Of Unicorns and Bowties
by CharleK
Summary: AU where Kurt and Blaine have known each other since childhood. A series of one-shots that follow their relationship development from five/four years old until they are full grown adults. Rated T for language and triggers in future chapters. Expect both fluff and angst!
1. Uni

**{A/N: This is the beginning of what is going to be a series of one-shots from an AU where Kurt and Blaine have known each other from childhood, and it's going to follow their relationship development through the years. Many thanks to my beta FishDontTouchMyRedvines. She is writing an Operation Klaine fic that I simply adore! You should check her out! Rated K+ for now since they are just little kiddies, but expect it to go up to at least T in future chapters. Please _please_ review! Every time you do a new Klaine fan is created!}**

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Part 1

"Kurtie?" Blaine jumped onto Kurt's bed a bit too forcefully, causing the headboard to rattle against the wall. It was close to bedtime, and the boys were supposed to be settling down. This was their first sleepover, and Blaine was really excited.

"Yeah?" Kurt looked up from the stuffed unicorn he had been playing with.

"Can we play a game?" Blaine looked at him, his eyes wide and excited.

"What game Blainey?"

"It's called Dragon! I'm the dragon and you are the Prince and I chase you around because that's what dragons do." Blaine jumped up and put his hands next to his face, curling them into claws and showing his teeth. "rawwr rawr," he growled.

Kurt giggled and ran across the room, "No no! Don't eat me." The two boys ran around the room, knocking over a basket of toys and making a huge ruckus. Blaine tackled Kurt and began to tickle him.

"I got you! I got you!" he exclaimed happily while Kurt wiggled under him.

"I—I give up!" Kurt spluttered in between fits of laughter.

Elizabeth Hummel poked her head into the room. "Boy's, I think it's bed time for both of you."

"Noooo," the two whined in unison.

Kurt looked at his mom, "I am this many years old" he held out five fingers. "That means I am a big boy and I don't have to go to sleep yet."

"Oh yes you do," she replied chuckling. "Besides, Blaine is a year younger than you, he needs to sleep too."

"Fine," Kurt folded his arms pouted. Elizabeth chuckled and proceeded to help the two of them change into their PJ's and brush their teeth. Blaine grinned at Kurt while his mouth was full of toothpaste foam.

"Look at me! I'm a rabbit squirrel!" He pulled a face that made Kurt fall over laughing and clutching his stomach. Kurt's mom laughed at the two boys.

"I think you mean rabid honey," she said before directing them to the sink to rinse out of their mouths.

After the three went back to Kurt's room, Elizabeth picked Kurt up and put him gently on the bed, kissing his forehead and tucking him in. She told him how much she loved him and Kurt smiled up at her happily.

Blaine watched the mother and son interact. His mommy didn't talk to him like this. In fact, she didn't talk to him that much at all. Usually the nanny would just send him to bed after dressing him in his PJ's.

Elizabeth then stood up and swooped Blaine up into her arms. "You too mister," she smiled as she laid him down and brushed his curls from his forehead.

Blaine grinned, "G'night Mrs. Kurt's Mommy."

"Good night sweetie." With that Elizabeth kissed his forehead and left the room. She seemed weaker than she had been before, but walked out of the room with a soft smile on her face.

Blaine looked over at Kurt, who was snuggled with his toy unicorn. Blaine had given it to him for his birthday a few months ago. He picked it out himself because he knew Kurt would love it. His dad tried to get him to buy a dinosaur set or Legos, but Blaine insisted.

"Kurtie?" Blaine tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yes Blainers?" Kurt yawned. It had been a long day.

"Can you cuddle with me?" Blaine looked up at him, "pretty pretty please?"

"No."

"Why not?" Blaine whined.

"Because I am cuddling with Uni right now." Kurt held the unicorn tighter to his chest and buried his face in its mane.

"But Kuuuurttt," Blaine pleaded.

"I'll cuddle with you the next time," Kurt responded

Blaine huffed and crossed his arms. "Don't you like me Kurtie?" he questioned. Blaine wished he had never gotten the stupid toy for Kurt. Kurt was **his** friend.

"Of course I like you silly," Kurt turned to face Blaine, "but I want to hug Uni now."

Blaine looked really sad, and tears began to well up in his eyes. Kurt didn't want his best friend to cry so he took his hand. "Blainers, you are my best friend forever. Please don't cry. Uni just needs me to hug her right now."

Blaine looked down at their hands together. "Fine then, but I still want to cuddle."

Kurt took away his hands and patted Blaine's head as if he were a puppy, "We'll do that later."

With that, Kurt let his hands drop and finally closed his eyes. He really was sleepy. Blaine lay there, but he couldn't sleep. He was still upset. After a while he called to Kurt.

"Kurt? Kurtie?" he shifted to look at Kurt's face. He was deep asleep and couldn't hear Blaine. Blaine touched Uni's tail. It was white and had on pink streak on the side. She was really soft and he understood why Kurt would want to hug her.

After checking to see that Kurt was still asleep, he whispered really quietly, hoping that Kurt wouldn't wake up, "Kurtie, I'm going to take Uni and put her on the other side of you. Is that okay? Don't answer if that's okay with you."

Kurt, of course, remained silent. He was breathing slowly in and out, unaware that Blaine was speaking to him.

"Okay Kurtie, since you didn't say anything it's okay. I'm going to move her." He slid the toy from Kurt's arms and threw her to the other side of the bed. Then he looked at Kurt again.

"Kurt, since you don't have Uni anymore can we cuddle now?" Once again Kurt didn't respond. So, Blaine scooted next to him and wrapped one of Kurt's arms around himself.

"Now I'm happy Kurtie," he breathed out. Within minutes, Blaine had fallen asleep.

A few hours later, Kurt woke up in the middle of the night. He looked down at Blaine who had somehow ended up under him and he saw Uni at the other side of the bed. He wasn't sure at all how this happened and he was very confused. At first he thought about going to get Uni again, but then he looked at Blaine sleeping peacefully, but with his mouth wide open and his arms sprawled around the two of them. He decided that he liked cuddling with Blaine more than the stuffed animal.

Kurt laid his head back down and whispered to Blaine, "you are my favorite person in the whole world Blainey. I'm going to be with you forever."


	2. Elizabeth

**{A/N: Many thanks to my beta FishDontTouchMyRedvines. She is supah awesome. Trigger warning for cancer/sickness.}**

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Part 2

Burt Hummel looked weary, but not quite as frail as his wife. Elizabeth was sick. She still stepped lightly around the house, singing to herself and playing with Kurt every day, but even an outsider could tell she was falling apart. Today had been the worst.

Just two weeks ago, they had been at the hospital when they heard the news. She had stage 4 Lymphoma. The doctor had only given her about a month to live. Elizabeth, always positive, continued to live her life the same way she always had. Burt, on the other hand, became a shadow of himself. He stopped eating, stopped sleeping, and would rarely join in whenever his wife would begin to sing to Kurt.

Now, only fourteen days since they had heard the news, Elizabeth had to be rushed to the hospital. Blaine and Kurt had been watching Aladdin in the playroom when Burt hollered from downstairs, his voice cracking. "Boys! Get your shoes on, we have to go!"

Kurt stood up, switched off the TV, and grabbed Uni off the shelf. Blaine, half asleep, rolled on to his side before standing up and following Kurt out of the room.

"Where are we going Kurtie?" He asked.

"I don't know," Kurt was scared. His daddy had never sounded so worried and sad before. The two clamored down the stairs where Burt was waiting for them and handed them their lace up sneakers. Kurt sat down and tied his shoes carefully while Blaine watched him.

"Um, Kurtie?" Blaine shuffled a little, embarrassed. "Can you tie my shoes for me? I don't know how."

"Yeah, okay. You have to stand here though." He pointed to the floor in front of him. Burt was pacing around having returned from helping Elizabeth into the car. He hadn't noticed that the two boys were struggling to get their shoes on. Kurt finished tying Blaine's laces and they stood up. Burt shooed them into the car and buckled them up. As he walked to the driver's seat, he dialed Blaine's father.

"Hello, may I speak to Charles Anderson?" Burt waited on the line while he turned the corner. "Hello Mr. Anderson, this is Burt Hummel. I'm driving to the hospital right now and I have Blaine with me. Would you like to pick him up?" Burt was silent as he listened to Charles' reply. "I see, well he can stay with us but I don't know how long we'll be there." He then hung up without saying goodbye.

Elizabeth was particularly quiet while the boys chatted softly in the back. She was shaking and felt weaker than she had been before. Her face was grey and, for the first time, it showed hints of grief. She watched Blaine and Kurt interact in the back seat, aware that this time may be the last. Kurt was petting his unicorn's head while Blaine twisted the tail around his finger. In her head, Elizabeth imagined the boys much older, sitting side by side with their heads pressed together, speaking low enough so that only the other could hear. She smiled to herself and placed her hand on top of Burt's. She sighed peacefully as the car pulled into the hospital.

The next few hours were a blur. Elizabeth was taken to a room and a number of nurses rushed around her. Kurt and Blaine sat together, both very confused as to what was going on. Burt sat on a chair next to his wife, a steady stream of tears falling down his face.

Elizabeth locked eyes with her husband. "Burt, honey, I love you so much," she whispered, her voice full of emotion. Burt nodded in response, unable to bring himself to say anything. Elizabeth glanced at Kurt. "Promise me you'll be there for him. Every day, every hour, every minute of his life."

Burt looked at her, "I promise you, I will do everything to make him feel as loved as you did." His bottom lip quivered. Unable to say more, he grabbed her hand and brought it to his forehead.

"Kurt, Blaine?" Elizabeth called out meekly. She could feel her body slowly shutting down on her. There wasn't much time left. She wanted to so badly to be there for Kurt. To see him grow up, go to his first dance, graduate high school and college. More than anything she wanted to be there to see him get married to the perfect man. She knew, of course, and to her it didn't matter.

Kurt came over, his hand clutching Blaine's. He looked up at his mommy. He was aware something was terribly wrong, but he didn't know what. Shifting a little, she leaned over to kiss Kurt on the forehead.

"Kurt sweetie, I love you so much." She paused, the words catching in her throat. "I-I'm not going to be here for very much longer." Tears began forming in the corners of her eyes. Kurt, seeing her cry, broke down too. He didn't know where his mommy was going, but he didn't want her to leave. He let go of Blaine's hand and rushed to her.

She began to stroke his hair, "Kurt, I want you to be everything you are. Please don't let someone else decide for you what is right and what is wrong. Do what you know in your heart is right, okay? Promise me?" Kurt nodded yes. He didn't know what he was agreeing to, but he would remember her words forever. They sat together for a long time, mother and son.

Blaine, meanwhile, had been holding on to Burt's sleeve. He was crying too. He loved Elizabeth just as much as Kurt. She was more of a mom to him than his mom ever had been, or ever would be. She reached out a hand and gestured for him to come closer. She pulled him into a hug. "My two boys," she murmured.

Minutes passed. Whispering in his ear, she spoke so Kurt wouldn't hear. "Blaine you need to promise me something too. Take care of Kurt for me please, for as long as he will let you."

"Okay," he said in his smallest voice. He told himself that he would always protect Kurt from any monster that tried to hurt him.

Elizabeth took her last breath that night. The three boys who meant the most to her in the world slept on cots around the room. Burt was by her side, deep in an uneasy sleep. Kurt and Blaine were snuggled close, Uni pressed in between the two of them. Before she finally let herself slip away, she allowed herself to be truly happy for a moment. All three of them would find love again, and she was positive that two of them would discover it in each other.

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**{Please please don't hate me! It had to be done, unfortunately. The next one is going to be super fluffy to make up for it, but you can't have a good long term story without some heartbreak. _Please_ review so I can love you from afar and write better stories for everyone! :) }**


	3. Bowties

**{A/N: Hullo all! Here is part three! For those of you interested, Blaine and Kurt are 7 and 8 in this section, respectively. Also Cooper is nine years older than Blaine in my mind, meaning he is currently 16. Sending love and thanks to my beta FishDontTouchMyRedvines, like I do every time!}**

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"Come on Kurtie! You move sooooo slow!" Blaine was bouncing at the top of the stairs, impatiently waiting for Kurt to make his way up. Kurt looked up at Blaine and grinned. His friend was running back down the stairs to meet Kurt in the middle. Blaine took Kurt's hand and nearly dragged him up the stairs.

Kurt hadn't been to Blaine's house in a long time. It was big, much larger than the Hummel's two bedroom home. Everything was neat and organized. The banisters shined as if they had been recently polished, and not a single fleck of dust could have been found in the home. It was chic, modern, and picture perfect. No one would have guessed that the house contained a teenager and a small child, unless they stepped into Cooper Anderson's room of course.

Blaine dropped Kurt's hand at the top of the stair and bolted towards his room. Kurt padded softly behind him. He became distracted with an ivory grand piano he could see though one of the doorways. Kurt stood in the hallway, his eyes glued to the instrument.

"KURT!" Blaine hollered from his room. "Come on!" Spinning on his heel, Kurt hustled into Blaine's room.

"You have a pretty piano," Kurt greeted.

"It's my daddy's," Blaine said, "I'm not 'apposed to touch it. I don't know why I can't, nobody uses it anyway." Blaine looked away, but quickly perked up when he remembered why they were there. "Look Kurtie! I got a new Spiderman toy!" He was ecstatic. Picking up the action figure from his bed, he brought it over to Kurt. "I love Spiderman, he is the bestest superhero in the world."

Kurt touched the toy's arm. "It's very pretty," he admired.

"I want to be him for Halloween next week. Maybe if I get the costume I can be like him and shoot webs from my hands!" Blaine ran around the room, pretending to swing around on his imaginary webs.

Kurt laughed at his friend. "I don't know what I want to be for Halloween yet," He said to Blaine. "Maybe I'll be Peter Pan, so I can fly too." Kurt's eyes glazed over. He was thinking how fun it would be to fly though the air, high up in the sky where nothing could touch him. Since that spring, Kurt had been sad a lot of the time, and he wanted nothing more to get away from it. But, he had his dad, and Blaine. He couldn't leave them behind. So he didn't think about flying away as much as he had the weeks after his mom died.

Blaine noticed that Kurt wasn't paying attention anymore. He hated it when Kurt was upset. He loved him as much as he loved his brother Coop, and it hurt him to see Kurt like this. He tried to think of something that would make him happy again.

After thinking for a moment, Blaine's face lit up. "Kurt! Kurt! I know what we can do!"

Kurt snapped out of his reverie and looked at Blaine questioningly. "Okay," he responded slowly.

"Yesterday my mommy and daddy got dressed up to go to a fancy dinner; maybe we can dress up too and pretend to eat!"

"That sounds like fun," Kurt squealed. The two of them rushed to the master bedroom.

"This is mommy's and daddy's closet," Blaine gestured towards a large walk-in. As the younger child stepped into the room, Kurt hung back.

"Are we supposed to be in here Blainers?" Kurt shifted from side to side.

"I don't know, maybe?" Blaine looked over his shoulder at Kurt, "it's okay though, nobody is home but Coop."

Looking slightly uneasy, Kurt walked in. The second he saw the long, beautiful dresses, and rows of shoes, his uneasiness was immediately replaced with wonder. "Look at it Blainey, it's so pretty."

Blaine was too busy pulling down a jacket to respond. After tugging on the sleeve for a little, the jacket fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. He laid it out and stepped back, trying to decide if he liked it enough. Finding it acceptable, he picked it up and slid it on. The hem reached down to his calves and the sleeves were at least six inches too long.

Kurt, meanwhile, had glanced at the suits, but then decided to instead wear one of the dresses. They were much more colorful and interesting. He chose a short, soft, maroon dress that was a stark contrast to his milky white skin. Despite the fact that it would have been pretty short on Mrs. Anderson, it reached Kurt's ankles and swished as he walked. He spun around in circles, feeling the dress move with him.

"That's beautiful Kurtie," Blaine complimented. After a moment, Blaine went over to the ties and tried to find one that he liked. He began to reach for a soft yellow one when Kurt spoke up.

"I think a bowtie would look better," he mused. He stepped next to Blaine and picked up a red and navy striped tie. He handed it to Blaine, and the younger boy took it without hesitation. He wrapped it around his neck and held the two ends. Blaine had absolutely no idea what to do from that point. He stared for a while until Kurt noticed.

"Here, let me try," Kurt said, reaching for the fabric. Blaine let go and Kurt began twisting the tie in an attempt to make a bow. After a moment, he stepped back and tapped his chin. "I think that's good enough."

The tie was a knotted mess. The two boys looked completely ridiculous. At that moment, Cooper decided to come out of the isolation of his room and followed the noises he heard coming from the closet. He knew Kurt and Blaine were up to something, and this could not be good news. Peering into the small room, he immediately bent over laughing.

"What? What on earth are you two doing?" he spluttered out.

"We're getting ready for a fancy dinner and party," Blaine said while crossing his arms and sticking his nose up at Cooper. The teenager sat down on the floor and wiped the tears from his eyes. He took in the sight, never wanting to forget this moment.

"Dad is going to have a heart attack when he sees this," Cooper mumbled. He glanced at Kurt, who was busying himself with finding a pair of shoes. Cooper then gestured to Blaine, "come here squirt, let me fix you up a little."

After positioning his little brother in front of him, he rolled up the sleeves of the jacket so Blaine's hands were visible, and untied the bowtie.

"No!" Blaine yelped when he saw his brother undoing the careful knots Kurt had just made.

"Calm down, I'm just going to tie it the right way," Cooper said calmly. Two minutes later, the bowtie was perfectly done, the jacket was buttoned up, and Blaine could at least walk again.

"What do you think Kurtie?" Blaine asked, hands on his hips.

"I think you look very handsome," Kurt responded. "I 'specially like the bowtie. You look nice in bowties."

Blaine's chest swelled. The compliment made him feel happier than he had in a while. He thought to himself that he needed to wear them every time he saw Kurt. Cooper, meanwhile, bit his lip, holding in the laughter that was bubbling up inside again.

"What about me?" Kurt asked his friend.

"I like it!" Blaine exclaimed with a broad grin.

"Alright, alright okay boys," Coop interrupted, "as amusing as this is, we've gotta put all of this back before dad gets home." Both of the boys' faces fell immediately.

"Do we have to Coop? We didn't even get to have a pretend dinner." Blaine whined.

"'fraid so. How about this, you guys change really fast, and I'll make Mac and Cheese for a _real_ dinner."

"Mmm, my favorite," Kurt rubbed his belly.

Within minutes, all of the clothes were back where they had originally been, and the three boys clamored down the stairs. The two younger boys sat themselves down at the table to wait for the Macaroni.

As he pulled down a pot to boil water, Cooper made a mental note to pick up some kid sized bowties the next time he went to the mall.


	4. Sandboxes and Swings

**{A/N: Hi dears! Here is part four for all of you. This is about 4 months since the last chapter. Thank you FishDontTouchMyRedvines! Go to her page, love her, she is awesome. }**

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It was late February, and the weather was nicer than it had been in a long time. Kurt and Blaine had caught a bit of spring fever, and after pestering Burt for an hour, he finally agreed to take the two of them to the park. They had spent the last hour playing in the sandbox. While Kurt busied himself making castles, Blaine was building a wall around his friend. Blaine wanted to finish it before Kurt realized what he was doing. He worked deliberately, trying to make it big enough so Kurt couldn't get out. He kicked up a little dust and accidentally breathed it in. Coughing violently, he fell over the side of the wall that was completed and lay on the sand, gasping.

Kurt glanced at Blaine, "You okay?"

"Yeah," he breathed out after catching his breath, "but now I have to fix this side." Blaine stood up, assessing the damage.

"Um, Blaine? What are you doing?" Kurt raised his eyebrows questioningly.

The younger boy gave Kurt a sheepish grin, "Erm… I'm trying to trap you inside the sand box."

"Why?"

"Because," Blaine explained, "I want to keep you to myself forever."

Kurt giggled and stepped out from the ring of sand, "you can't keep me to yourself silly; I have to see my daddy still." Blaine pouted, but didn't say anything. Kurt noticed Blaine's face and walked over to give him a hug. "Don't worry, I won't leave you Blainers." The curly haired boy grinned and hugged Kurt back.

From ten feet away, another small boy sat precariously on top of the monkey bars. He watched the two boys interacting and felt a little jealous. He liked the small boy who was wearing the green bowtie, and wanted to be his friend. For some reason, he disliked the taller, paler one.

"I want to swing," Blaine said, pulling away from Kurt and sprinting to the swing set. He sat down on the swing and pointed to the one next to him, indicating that Kurt should sit near him. Kurt jumped onto the swing next to Blaine and immediately began to swing his legs back and forth.

"I'm going to go higher than you!" He teased. Blaine's face was one of pure concentration as he tried, and failed, to swing higher than Kurt. Eventually, he stopped trying and stuck his tongue out at Kurt.

"No fair!" He whined, "Your legs are longer than mine."

Kurt laughed and let himself slow down to Blaine's speed. The two boys swung together in silence until they heard someone clear his throat from behind.

"Hi," said a tall boy. He looked to be around the same age as the two friends. "I'm Sebastian," he said smugly. Kurt didn't like him at all. He looked mean and was looking at Blaine funny.

Blaine, completely oblivious, hopped off of the swing and greeted Sebastian. "Hi!" He said brightly. Kurt tentatively stepped over with a guarded expression on his face. Sebastian completely ignored Kurt, focusing all of his attention on Blaine.

"I like your bowtie," he complimented.

Blaine smiled. "Thanks! My brother Coop got it for me for Christmas."

"Do you want to climb on the monkey bars with me?" Sebastian asked, pointing at the green and yellow set.

"Sure!" Blaine said, he looked at Kurt to signal that he should obviously come along too. Kurt began to walk behind them, but Sebastian turned and sneered at him.

"I didn't mean you," he said, shoving Kurt a little too forcefully. Kurt stumbled, and fell over backwards onto the ground. His eyes welled up with tears, and he looked down at his wood chip covered hands. Burt, reading on the other side of the playground, didn't notice the incident. Blaine's eyes got wide, and his mouth gaped open.

"Why would you do that?" He asked Sebastian. "You can't hurt Kurt, he is my bestest friend in the world." Sebastian didn't respond; he just stood there with his arms crossed, glaring at Kurt.

Blaine hurried to Kurt and sat down next to him, wiping the wood from his arms.

"Don't cry Kurtie, it makes me sad when you cry." Other people were always mean to Kurt, and it made Blaine feel bad. He had promised to protect Kurt forever, and it was so hard for him to do sometimes. He gave Kurt a hug. It was hard to do sitting down, but Blaine wrapped his arms around his friend anyway.

"You're mean." He said to Sebastian, "I don't want you to be here anymore." Blaine stood up, and helped Kurt to his feet. "Are you okay?" he asked earnestly.

"Yeah," Kurt sniffled a little. He wasn't really hurt by the push. He was just upset because for a moment he thought Blaine was going to leave him on the ground to go play with the new boy. Once Blaine was by his side, he instantly felt better.

The two boys left Sebastian, and soon forgot about the incident. They decided to go into the playhouse. While Kurt began to make mudpies to "cook" in a pretend oven, and Blaine went outside to collect more flowers and grass for Kurt to decorate it. While he was picking them, he saw a tiny lady bug.

"Hi," he said softly. "You are so pretty. I like how you are orange. Most lady bugs are red, and that's boring." He picked up the small bug and looked at it. "You're different, like my best friend. His name is Kurt. People are always mean to him, and I don't know why. I think he is great. He's nice to me, and he always looks really pretty." Blaine stared at the bug. He placed it back in the grass, and stood up. He turned around and Kurt was standing there, grinning like a loon.

"Blaine, you are the nicest person I've ever met."

Slightly embarrassed, Blaine smiled back. He held out the flowers he had collected. "Here," he said, "these are for your pie." Kurt took them and grabbed Blaine's hand.

"Come on, I want you to help me decorate it." The two made their way back to the playhouse and spent the rest of their time at the park making multiple pies to bring to Kurt's dad.

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**{Reviews make me a happier and better writer! Please review If you can! Also thanks to JMarieAllenPoe for offering inspiration for this section, and my beta yet again for telling me to do it. I love you all dearly!}**


	5. Crush

**{ Aaand here is part 5! Big thanks to people that have stuck with me so far. I feel like these chapters just keep getting longer and longer. Now I know I'm not super qualified to write about this considering I am a straight female, but beginning a teeny bit with this chapter and soon branching into other chapters I will be writing about the character's discovering their sexuality. So please bear with me. Currently Kurt is 10 and Blaine is 9. Thanks to FishDontTouchMyRedvines for all of her support and beta-ing!}**

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Kurt rang the doorbell and stood outside of the Anderson residence. He had been coming to Blaine's very often lately. The two were becoming closer with each visit. After a moment, the door unlocked and swung open. Cooper stood on the other side, and smiled warmly at Kurt when he saw him.

"Hey there little brother," He said to the pale boy. "Blaine's upstairs, you can go up to see him if you want."

Kurt looked up at the tall 18 year old. Cooper looked more and more different every day. A bit older, and a bit more mature. His hair was perfection and it made Kurt's heart flutter a little when he looked at the older boy's ice blue eyes. He thought he could stare at Cooper's face all day.

After hesitating a little, he finally nodded and slipped around Cooper. He shuffled quickly up the stairs, trying to remain calm.

This seemed to happen with increased frequency as Kurt visited the house. To him, Cooper was like a Disney prince. In the back of his mind, something told him something about it wasn't completely normal. He had never seen a prince fall in love with a boy before, only pretty girls. In fact, he never had seen two boys together before. Always moms and dads. Never two dads or two moms. Well, aside from that one time at the store a few months back. It made very little sense to him.

Kurt pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. He never lingered too long on those topics. It often made him uneasy and very, very confused. As he approached the other rooms, he heard the soft tones of a piano. Curious, he walked over to where the white instrument stood. On a stool sat Blaine. His feet swung in the air, for they were not long enough to reach the floor yet.

"I thought you weren't allowed to touch the piano?" Kurt greeted Blaine. The boy jumped a little at the sound, but relaxed when he saw it was only his friend.

"I know, but I just love the sound it makes. Coop taught me how to play a few songs a few months ago, and now I've been trying to teach myself when my parents aren't home." Blaine bit his lip and put his hands in his lap. "I'm getting better I think, but I can't really tell."

"Can you play something? I can tell you if I think it's good." Kurt smiled at Blaine to encourage him.

"Yeah, okay. I think I can do that." Blaine placed his fingers on the keys, pressing a few to figure out which notes to play. After a few faltering key strokes, Blaine began to play a simple, stripped down version of a familiar Disney song. Aladdin had always been a favorite of Blaine's. It reminded him of Kurt's house. When the two were younger, they would watch it once a week in Kurt's playroom. Sometimes it would play in the background while the boys did something else, and sometimes they would sit quietly on the floor together watching every move the hero would make.

When Kurt recognized the song, he began to sing softly.

_Take you wonder by wonder. _

_Over, sideways and under _

_On a magic carpet ride_

_A whole new world_

_A whole fantastic point of view…_

The music suddenly stopped and Kurt glanced over to where his friend sat. Blaine was staring wide eyed at Kurt. The blue eyed boy shot Blaine a questioning look.

"You don't sing like most people," Blaine finally commented. Kurt's face fell. Did that mean it was bad? Maybe next time he should sing more like Aladdin instead of Jasmine.

Blaine immediately noticed his friend's expression. "N-not bad I mean. It's beautiful actually."

In an instant, Kurt felt better about himself. Grinning, he stepped over to the stool Blaine sat in and sat down. "Well, I think you are really good at the piano," he told the younger boy.

The two sat together for a while. Blaine was testing out the instrument, trying to remember how some songs sounded, and then making that sound come from the piano. His tongue stuck out a little from his mouth and his brow furrowed in concentration. Meanwhile, Kurt sat on his hands and hummed along whenever he could distinguish a song.

Cooper stuck his head in the door way, "Hey guys, mom's supposed to be home soon. Make sure you aren't in here when she gets back."

Blaine frowned and looked over at Kurt. Kurt, however, didn't return the gaze. He was too busy making doe eyes at Cooper. The teen, oblivious as always, winked at Kurt and turned to leave. Blaine noticed this small interaction and folded his arms across his chest. Cooper just had to come in here and make Kurt like him more. Everyone liked Cooper more. He was older, smarter, and a better singer than anyone. To the little boy, it looked as if his brother was going to take Kurt away from him.

After the brunette snapped back to attention, he noticed Blaine's scowl. "What?" He questioned.

"Nothing Kurt," was his reply.

Shrugging, Kurt hopped off of the chair, "Okay, I should go home now. It's getting dark."

Blaine shoulders relaxed a little. He was upset with Kurt, but he still cared that he was leaving. "Alright. You'll come back tomorrow? You didn't get to stay very long today."

"Sure," Kurt replied. Blaine walked him to the door, and gave him a quick hug before he left. After he had shut the door behind him, Blaine returned to his room, slightly irritated.

"Hey squirt! Time to get changed for bed."

Blaine made a face. Why was Cooper allowed to tell him what to do? It wasn't fair." Seething, he changed into his PJ's and was soon ready for bed. That night, he did not sleep as calmly as usual.

The next day, Kurt got onto his bike and made his way back to the Anderson home. It was only a couple of streets down from his own. As he pedaled, he noticed some wildflowers growing on the side of the road. He brought his bike to a stop, and let it fall down into the grass.

Most of the flowers were white or yellow. While the petals were small, they all seemed beautiful in their own way. Kurt gathered a bunch in his hands, arranging them nicely. He added in a few green sprigs like he had seen the florist do before. Satisfied with his bouquet, he tied it off with a piece of grass and turned to leave. As he did so, a pink flower caught his attention. It was completely different from the usual weeds that were scattered around. He kneeled down next to it and carefully plucked it from the ground. This flower definitely deserved to be alone, separate from the rest.

Kurt went back to his bike, picked it up, and got back on. It was a bit of a struggle to hold the flowers and bike at the same time, but he managed. Soon, he arrived at Blaine's house. He rang the bell, and Cooper answered as always.

"What a surprise, it's Kurt," he said cordially.

Blaine was sitting on the couch and waved over to Kurt. Kurt returned the gesture, and then glanced back to Cooper.

"I thought you would like these," Kurt thrust the bouquet into Cooper's hands. The older boy looked really confused, and then grinned in amusement. Clearly this little boy had a crush on him. It was adorable and hilarious at the same time. Cooper took the flowers from Kurt and leaned down to hug him.

"Why thank you Kurt, they're gorgeous." After a moment, he stood back up, and walked over to the kitchen to find a vase.

Blaine had witnessed the entire interaction. He was not happy at all. He was mad at Kurt for giving Cooper the flowers, and he was mad at Cooper for taking them. He settled himself deeper into the couch and hugged a pillow to his chest. When Kurt came to sit near him, he didn't look up.

"Blaine?" Kurt tapped his shoulder.

"What?" he snapped.

"What's wrong? Why won't you look at me?"

"Because I don't want to look at you right now, okay!" This came out harsher than Blaine had intended. He had actually screamed at Kurt. He thought about taking it back, but decided not to. It wasn't he who should have been apologizing.

Kurt tensed next to Blaine. Getting yelled at was normal, but not by Blaine. Blaine was always there when the other kids at school would pick on him after school. He never would have thought his friend would have turned on him too.

"_Fine," _Kurt spat out. He was hurt, but didn't intend on letting Blaine see that. He stood up, and began to march towards the entrance. He then remembered the pink flower he had been holding in his hands, the one intended for Blaine. He looked at it, and considered stomping it into the floor. Instead, he tossed it onto the coffee table in front of the curly haired boy. Blaine didn't look up; his head was buried in his pillow.

Kurt turned away again, and left the house. Only when he was halfway home did he begin to show signs of how upset he was. He bit back tears and pedaled home.

As soon as Kurt left, Blaine raised his head. Kurt was gone. He wanted Kurt to himself and now he was actually gone. He smacked himself on the head with his pillow. _Idiot_ he told himself. A flash of color caught his eye as he was about to bring his head down for the fourth time. Looking up, he saw a beautiful pink flower. Kurt had to have left it there; no one else had been in the room.

He slid off the couch and picked up the small plant. He turned it over in his hands, and noticed that it had begun to wither. He rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass out of the dish washer. He filled it with water and placed the single flower into it. Sadly, he stepped up the stairs, and to his room. After he placed the container on the windowsill, he sat back. He wished more than anything that Kurt was still with him.

* * *

**{Don't worry guys, Klaine is always and forever endgame, but we've got plenty of time before that. They're still little babies. Reviews make me not only a better writer, but also a faster one! Please leave one if you can, even if it's all critique and no compliments. :D}**


	6. Never Alone

**{A/N: I am surprised I am keeping this updated semi-fast. Introducing part 6: in which their relationship changes dramatically. This is a year-ish from the last part. The timing is always ambiguous for me unless it's a holiday. Blaine is 10 and Kurt is 11. Sorry this is getting a little dark, but I promise I'll always cut it with fluff; I don't want to break any hearts. Many thanks to my beta who you all probably know by now. Also sending warm fuzzies to my readers! It's nice to know at least some people are reading :).}**

* * *

Kurt shot up from his bed. He was breathing heavily and his eyes scanned the room around him. Safe. He placed his hands on his chest, willing himself to calm down. He took a few long, controlled breaths before lowering his arms again. After his breathing returned to normal, he squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed them hard. It was something he remembered his mom had told him to do when he had bad dreams. For some reason, rubbing his eyes would keep the dream from returning for the rest of the night. Unfortunately that didn't keep them from coming forever. He had learned to expect at least one nightmare every other day. At first he would go to his dad for comfort, but soon Kurt noticed that Burt was growing tired of waking up all of the time, so, Kurt began to console himself. The first few times he had sobbed uncontrollably, unable to sleep for the rest of the night. Before long, only a few tears would fall. Now, almost a year later, Kurt had hardened himself. No tears, no screams, just wide eyes and a heavy heart.

The dream was somewhat hazy for Kurt, but the last words he had heard still reverberated though his head: "He's so different. Weird. Unnatural." He remembered being alone, and darkness had surrounded him. It wasn't quite the same as the dark of the night, where the moon and streetlights cut into black curtain. This was a shadowy dark that had no escape. And the noise! Shouts and hollers simultaneously with hushed whispers. It had been complete chaos. The words he had only heard in whispers around him in real life were shouted loud enough for all to hear in the dream.

He hated this. Even after he got over the initial shock, the fear stuck with him for the rest of the night. He fell back onto his pillow again, closing his eyes and willing himself to fall back asleep. He closed his eyes and hummed a senseless tune to himself. After this proved to be inefficient, he cracked his eyes open again, and glanced around the room. It was at times like this that he missed Blaine. He hadn't seen Blaine since the flower incident. He wanted to go back so badly, but his pride wouldn't allow him to return without an apology from Blaine first.

His mind wandered to the last time Blaine had slept over at his house. Halfway through the night Blaine had ended up sprawled sideways on the bed, draped over Kurt's legs. At the time it had annoyed Kurt because he couldn't roll over, but now he would give anything to have his old friend in the same room with him.

He saw the stuffed unicorn he had since he was little on the shelf across from him. He had put it there a while ago, claiming that he was too old to sleep with a stuffed animal anymore. Tonight would have to be an exception. It was just the childish comfort he needed at the moment. He kicked off the sheets and rolled hazily out of bed. He blinked away the dizziness that came with his sudden movement and shuffled over to the shelf. He pulled the unicorn down; "Uni," he remembered he had called it. Bringing it back to the bed, he pulled the sheet over himself and curled his body around the small toy. The hair from the mane tickled his nose, but he didn't move a muscle, determined to fall back asleep. And sleep he did.

* * *

Blaine sat at his desk at school. He felt oddly separated from everyone else. Before, when Kurt was still in elementary with him, before he had yelled at Kurt, they would at least see each other every day before school and on the way home. Not anymore.

He had a lot of friends. That was mostly because he was the one that would organize the games during free time. People would copy him when they didn't know what to do. A few boys had even worn bowties for a while that year to be more like him. It seemed like everyone looked up to him, but there was no one that was there for him. If someone fell and scraped their knee, Blaine would always help them stand up and call a teacher. When Blaine got hurt, however, the other boys and girls would shuffle awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Every time that would happen, he sincerely wished Kurt was still his friend.

That one day in particular, he felt especially lonely. The teacher was talking at the front of the room, trying to explain division to the many students that hadn't grasped the concept yet. Of course Blaine already knew what was going on, and was daydreaming instead. It was the same scenario that he had played over and over in his mind. It was him going to Kurt's house, apologizing, and then everything would go back to normal. But Blaine was terrified of going back. What if Kurt decided he didn't want to be friends anymore? He feared that Kurt would reject him, and then everything would be worse. At least now there was the possibility that Kurt would still want to be friends.

Blaine looked up, running his hands though his curls. Just thinking about his lost friendship often depressed him. He put his head down and closed his eyes, willing his mind to think about something happier.

"Mr. Anderson," He heard his teacher call sternly from the front of the room, "please keep your head up when I'm teaching."

Blaine felt the heat creep up his face as he looked up towards the teacher. He mumbled a quiet apology and fixed his eyes on the front board. His mind, however, still rambled. He sighed as his teacher explained for the fourth time why twelve divided by two was six.

* * *

Two weeks later, Blaine sat at the dinner table with his mom and dad. Cooper had left for college at the beginning of the year in California. His parents nearly had heart attacks when Cooper insisted on going to a public school rather than follow in his dad's footsteps and go to Yale. Only after Cooper threatened to run away to LA did they finally give in. So now, unless it was the holiday, it was just Blaine and his two uppity parents.

"Blaine, sit up. You're slouching again."

"Yessir," he muttered and straightened out his back. Mr. Anderson was a severe man. He always wore a suit and took it upon himself to raise Blaine proper. Cooper had inherited his sharp jaw line, and Blaine shared his eyes. However, they lacked the luster that could usually be found behind Blaine's hazel irises. Mr. Anderson had sworn off most emotion years before. It's an essential skill for many lawyers.

Mrs. Anderson was the perfect match to her husband. She was from a traditional Christian family, and liked to let everyone know. She worked for the local government, pushing a conservative agenda with the occasional help of her husband. She kept up her appearances and expected her family to do the same. That night she sat tight lipped and focused heavily on her food.

The three of them sat in silence. Every now and then the two elder members would exchange a sentence or two discussing their work. They barely acknowledged Blaine's existence unless it was to correct his form or remind him to take his elbows off of the table. Blaine ate as quickly as possible, and then sat with his hands in his lap, waiting to be excused. After a few minutes his mom nodded at him and he took his plate and left. He dropped his dishes into the sink and trudged up to his room.

He flopped himself on his bed and lay there for a few minutes. Blaine despised family dinners. The constant nagging of his mother and sideways glances made by his father always made him miserable. Why on earth was he never good enough? Had he done something to make his parents so distant?

Questions like these ran through Blaine's head, until he could no longer stand it anymore. His misery turned into rage. He deserved to be cared for. He knew it. Cooper had always told him to ignore their parent's comments. Blaine tried. He tried so hard, but sometimes it was harder to ignore their silence.

Fuming, he gathered himself up into standing position. He flung his pillow across the room, hoping it would do some damage. It hit the wall with a soft thud, and then dropped to the ground. At that point he lost it. He couldn't stand his perfectly clean room. He opened drawers and pitched their contents. He messed up his bed sheets, knocked over his hamper, threw up handfuls of paper and watched them flutter to the ground.

Five minutes later the room was a disaster. He wasn't a huge fan of the mess, but it felt different enough to placate him. Sighing, he dropped down and sat with his legs crossed in the middle of the room. He noticed he had sat on something, so he shifted a little and felt it crack beneath him. He rocked onto on side and pulled the object out from under him.

It was a picture frame. Inside it was a picture of him, Kurt, and Elizabeth at the zoo; the bird sanctuary, in fact. He didn't remember taking the picture, or how old he was at the time. It had to be at least 5 years ago. Blaine pulled away the broken glass and set it on his desk a few feet away. He then slid the photo out and examined it closer. Kurt was holding tightly onto his mom's arm, and Blaine was looking up at something above him. Kurt's mom was hugging them both and smiling not at the camera, but at the person behind it.

Elizabeth. He had promised her. He had promised to take care of Kurt, and that was exactly what he hadn't been doing that entire year.

The handle to Blaine's door turned and the boy paled and the photograph fell out of his hands. He knew the trouble he would be in once the state of his room was discovered. Nothing irked his parents more than disorder. The door swung open and Blaine's own mother came in. She took one look at the disaster and her face twisted in anger.

"Blaine Anderson!" she screeched, "what in God's name are you doing? This is completely, absolutely unacceptable."

Blaine opened his mouth to apologize, but she cut him off before he could get more that a syllable out.

"I don't know what is going on in that head of yours but you will clean this. Instantly. I don't know what _possessed_ you to do this, and I don't care. Just watch, you'll end up worse than Cooper." She was breathing hard and going off on a tangent as usual. It wasn't really about the mess; it was more of the fact that she feared Blaine would rebel just like his older brother.

"You'll run away with some trashy girl, convinced you'll make it big in some city somewhere, then come crawling back five years later. I won't have it! You'll follow my rules while you are in this house, and you're going to follow the straight path. You'll start by cleaning this now, and I expect you to keep it that way for good. For god's sake, you're ten years old. You _know_ you aren't supposed to do this."

Ms. Anderson spun around and left, slamming the door behind her. Blaine, a bit confused, but more hurt, began to gather his things. He ended up tossing the majority of his items in the trash bin, he didn't want them anymore. He picked up the photograph again. Kurt. He needed Kurt. He promised to take care of Kurt for Elizabeth, but right now he needed someone willing to take care of him too.

Kurt was the only great thing in his life still within reach. "You know what?" he thought to himself, "I'm going to go see him." He could spend the rest of his time moping around, or he could just go for it. Not like he had much to lose at this point.

Blaine shoved the majority of the mess under his bed and hastily made his way out. It was late, and he knew he would be in trouble when he got back, but he didn't care. He glanced around the corner of his bedroom. He heard the distinct sound of two keyboards typing in unison a few doors down. They were working. Making sure his parents wouldn't see him leaving, he slipped out of the back door without a sound. He raced around to the front of the house, and went down the street. While he was running, he pushed away the voice of doubt that had followed him around for the past twelve months. There was no way he was going to let it stop him this time. He was sick and tired of the loneliness.

Nearly ten minutes later, he arrived at the Hummel home, huffing and puffing. He stopped at the entrance of the drive way. Everything was just as he remembered. The bushes were slightly larger, but still neatly trimmed. Blaine gathered whatever spontaneity and courage he still had and knocked on the door before he could think twice. He paced in front of the entrance, unsure of what to do or say if the door actually opened.

The door opened and Burt Hummel stood with a perplexed look on his face. "Blaine?"

"H-hello Mr. Hummel sir, I-I came to talk to Kurt if that's okay with you." Blaine stammered.

Burt was a bit uneasy. Blaine was the one that had hurt Kurt in the first place, but his absence seemed to have an even worse effect. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded and stepped to the side. "He's probably in his room, just knock."

Blaine smiled graciously at Burt and barreled up the stairs two at a time. He reached Kurt's familiar room and knocked on the door. He didn't bother waiting for an answer; he walked right in, ready to tell everything to the one person that might still care.

Kurt glanced up, expecting his father. When instead he saw the unmistakable mop of curly hair, he shot up from the chair and dropped the book he had been reading. His face changed from one of confusion, to elation, to guarded excitement. "Blaine?"

When Blaine heard Kurt's voice, he lost his own. He had been prepared to apologize to Kurt, to tell him he had been mean and wasn't thinking. He was sorry for yelling at Kurt, he was sorry for letting him leave, and he was sorry for not coming back for him for so long. Instead, Blaine threw himself across the room and wrapped his arms around Kurt. He didn't care about anything in the world as long as Kurt didn't push him off.

The older boy tensed. He hadn't expected this, but then again he hadn't expected Blaine to show up either. Eventually, he relaxed and hugged Blaine back. He wanted to say something, but wasn't exactly sure what to say. He fought with himself trying to find the right words. He then noticed Blaine was now shaking slightly in his arms.

He was crying. Tears streamed down Blaine's face. Whether from joy or despair, neither of them knew. He was so happy to finally have someone willing to offer comfort. Every moment he had been alone came back to him in a flood. He gasped for air, "I'm…so so sorry Kurt. I didn't mean it. I promise. Promise."

Blaine was a blubbering mess. Kurt led him to the bed and sat him down. He didn't say anything. He didn't need too. He just sat there with Blaine until he had composed himself. Both of them knew things wouldn't be quite the same from now on, but at least they were together again.

The two didn't move until long after the sun had set and Blaine finally got up to go home.

"I never meant to hurt you Kurt," Blaine said.

"I know," Kurt simply responded.

"Could I come over tomorrow?"

"I would love it if you did," Kurt said earnestly. He gave Blaine one last hug before leading him to the door.

* * *

Blaine returned home and had to bear through a two hour lecture on the dangers of running from home. But it was okay, because he had his best friend back. This time, he intended on doing everything in his ability to hold on to him for good.

* * *

**{Phew that was longer than usual. Thanks for sticking with me! Feel free to suggest things for future chapters; I'm a bit stuck at the moment. I apologize for the likely late update next time around since I'm wrestling with ideas. And of course, I'm never opposed to reviews.}**


	7. Questions

**{A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long guys, I was completely blocked for whatever reason but I just had to make myself write. Trigger warnings for anti-gay slurs, but nothing beyond that for this chapter. It's very short, mostly just filler but you all deserve an update. So, here is part 7, it takes place in September of 2006. Blaine is 11 and Kurt is 12. Yeah, so enjoy! Thank you to my beta for encouraging me to keep going: FishDontTouchMyRedvines.}**

* * *

"Blaine, could you pass me that bottle over there?"

Blaine looked over to Kurt's counter; it was covered in about 20 different bottles of different shapes and sizes. "Um… which one?" He asked.

"The one with the flat top and gold-ish edging."

After scanning the table, he found the one Kurt had been asking for and tossed it over. Kurt fumbled for the bottle, catching it right before it hit the ground. Blaine grinned at his friend's clumsiness, and Kurt stuck out his tongue in return. The past few weeks, Kurt had been adamantly testing out various moisturizers and facial creams. His dad had to cut him off from any new products about a week ago because paying twenty dollars for a tiny bottle of lotion was getting ridiculous. Blaine had let Kurt test out a few on him, but preferred sitting back and watching his friend figure out the right combination for his pale complexion.

Blaine really needed to talk to Kurt, but he didn't know how to start the conversation. Since they had become friends again, things weren't always as easy as they used to be. Something had changed between the two of them, and their bond had been worn down. But he needed to say something about what was happening recently.

People had started to pick on Blaine now, mostly because of the amount of time he spent with Kurt. It was strange and not at all pleasant. He couldn't understand why they were always targeted. At first it was just taunting, words like "Lady Boy," were thrown in their direction. But it got worse. His one stray comment on Orlando Bloom's looks in the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie had set of a new wave of hatred. Now he could hear people talk about them in hushed whispers. "Fag" was the word of choice. When he asked his parents what it meant one day at dinner, his mom had stiffened and sent him to his room without an actual explanation.

That night he had called Cooper in California. His brother explained everything to him, and he sounded sad. Cooper realized his brother was going to go through a lot in the next few years of his life. He promised to visit as soon as he could.

It was hard for him. Blaine had always been well liked, and he wasn't taking any of this well. Kurt however seemed to be able to take the insults in stride. He had no idea how he managed to do it.

While Blaine struggled with his thoughts, the doorbell rang from downstairs. Both boys looked up in confusion. They could hear the door open and Burt talking to a small voice. A few seconds later, someone could be heard making their way up the stairs.

A small girl with beautiful brown skin appeared at the entrance of Kurt's room. She had tears streaming down her eyes and her shoulders were shaking.

Blaine recognized her from school. She had a lot of classes with Kurt, and the two spent a lot of time together. Her name was Mercedes.

Kurt abandoned his spot in front of the mirror and ran over to her. He grabbed her into a hug and rocked her back and forth. After a moment, he led a slightly calmer Mercedes to the bed and sat her down.

"Honey what's wrong?" Kurt asked her. Blaine didn't know if he should say something. He decided to stay put on the other side of the bed, offering her his most sympathetic looks.

"I- he…" Mercedes choked down a sob, "I told him, and he said that I was too fat, and no one would like me like this." She broke back down.

"Shhh, don't you believe that for one second. You are beautiful Mercedes. Beautiful and kind and smart and you are the best singer in the world."

"Better than Rachel?"

"You are a million times better than Rachel," Kurt said and wiped her cheek with his shirt sleeve.

Blaine bit his lip and shuffled a little awkwardly. Should he say something? He didn't know Mercedes, but clearly she meant a lot to Kurt, and vice versa.

"I get it now, how you feel around Finn." Mercedes said after a pause. Blaine's head shot up. Finn? Finn who? He looked questioningly from Mercedes to Kurt, but neither noticed him looking around. This probably wasn't the time to start asking questions. Perhaps he should go. Clearly they needed some time to themselves.

Blaine tapped Kurt on the shoulder and gestured towards the door as Mercedes sobbed silently. Kurt nodded and mouthed goodbye.

Blaine left without a word. He had so much that he needed to ask Kurt, but maybe now wasn't the best time to bring it up. He felt a bit of bitterness towards Mercedes, but forced that down and made his way home.

* * *

**{Shhh, I know Mercedes isn't supposed to know about Kurt until their sophomore year, but this is an AU so I bent the rules a little. Also I feel like I need to give a shout out to The Box Scene because that was just adorable and deserves a shout out. And I promise, we will be back to fluffies soon! Reviews help avoid major character death (evil cackle). But really, please review, it means a lot to me!}**


	8. Ferris Wheel

**{A/N: So you lucky ducks get fluff today! I've been promising it both to you and to myself, and I think it's about time I kept that promise. Thank you to FishDontTouchMyRedvines for being both supportive and not killing me yet for constantly pestering her. Enjoy the fluffies! Blaine is 12, and Kurt is 13.}**

* * *

On this particular Saturday, Blaine and Kurt were getting ready to head out for the day. The local theme park was having a summer celebration, and Burt had suggested the boys go. Of course Blaine had jumped at the idea immediately. The promise of cotton candy and vomit inducing rides thrilled him. In addition, he had _finally_ grown tall enough to go on the bigger roller coasters, despite the fact that all of his friends had been big enough since they were 10.

Kurt, however, took a little bit of persuading. He wasn't too keen on the idea of spending the entire day under the hot, July sun. Eventually, at Blaine's pleading and Burt's insistence, Kurt agreed.

Kurt took his time applying three layers of sun block- you can never be too safe- and Blaine bounced around him, whining that it was taking too long.

"Come on Kurt!" He pleaded, "I wanna go. If we don't leave soon we won't be able to go everywhere."

"Okay okay fine," Kurt rubbed in the last of the lotion on his cheek, "but if I burn I'm going to blame you."

Blaine grinned and tugged on Kurt's sleeve. "Let's go let's go!" He practically skipped to Burt's truck and pulled Kurt with him into the back seat. Kurt, of course, hadn't expected this, and fell face first into the car. He landed on top of Blaine with an "Oomph" and let out a small noise of surprise.

"Blaine!" He exclaimed as the smaller boy laughed under him. "One day, you are going to kill me."

"Please," he rolled his eyes, "I'm sure you can handle falling down once in a while."

Kurt rolled off of Blaine and sat down next to him. He smoothed out the creases in his shirt and settled himself into his seat. Burt then came out of the house and got in the car.

"You guys ready to go,"

"YES YES!" Blaine's enthusiasm scared Kurt a little. Burt started the truck, and the three of them headed out.

The majority of the day was spent with Blaine skipping though all of the stations and stalls faster than either of the Hummels could keep up with him. Eventually, Burt had given Kurt his watch, and told the two boys to meet him at the entrance in an hour, and to stay in the same general area. He then went sat down on one of the benches to relax a little. There was no way he could run after them for the rest of the afternoon.

By this point, however, they had been on almost every ride and they were running out of things to do. They passed a stall selling cotton candy, and Blaine bought his third cone of the day. It was blue. Always blue. It was his favorite color.

The two plopped themselves down on the ground. Blaine, caring less about the state of his pants, sat in the middle of a small pile of dust. Kurt, on the other hand, carefully sat down on a cleaner spot of sidewalk. Blaine offered some of his cotton candy to Kurt, who took it without question.

"I think I could live here," Blaine said after a moment of silence.

"Because of the cotton candy?" Kurt asked.

"No. Well, yes, but no."

Kurt tilted his head to the side and gave Blaine a questioning look.

"Just think about it," Blaine continued, "everyone here is always happy, there's lots of games, and of course this," he waved his half eaten sweet in front of him.

"Wouldn't you get bored of it eventually? I mean nothing ever changes."

"I wouldn't if…" Blaine trailed off, and blushed. He looked down at his hand, which at this point was blue and sticky.

"If what?" Kurt asked, nudging Blaine's shoulder with his own.

"Ifyouwouldstaywithme," Blaine mumbled. He was somewhat embarrassed telling Kurt. He had a crush on him, and knew it. Blaine actually had no idea how long he had liked Kurt, but he knew it was a lot longer than he had acknowledged it. But, he couldn't tell Kurt. It would be embarrassing, especially if he didn't like him back.

Kurt squinted a little after Blaine spoke, "wait what? I couldn't understand you."

Blaine took a deep breath in and said again, "It wouldn't get boring if you stayed here with me."

Kurt grinned and tore off another small bit of the cotton fluff. "Of course I'd stay," he said, popping the sugar into his mouth. He then chewed slowly and mulled over that statement. "Well, I'd stay for a while, but not forever. It would get cold in the winter."

Blaine was still grinning foolishly after hearing Kurt's first statement. He happily settled back down and finished off the food with Kurt.

After that, they went to find a bathroom to wash their hands, and then wandered a bit, trying to figure out what there was left to do.

"We should go on the Ferris Wheel," Blaine suggested.

"Blaine, I already told you I hate heights."

"But, but, _please?_" Blaine had been begging Kurt to go on a roller coaster all way. Kurt had resisted the constant pleading after the first ride, where he nearly puked.

"No way, not ever,"Kurt said, crossing his arms.

Blaine literally fell down on his knees right where he stood and clasped his hands together. "Kurt Hummel, if you go on the Ferris Wheel with me, I promise I will never ever ever ask you for anything ever again. Maybe. Probably. Please please please." Blaine stuck out his bottom lip and opened his eyes wide. "It doesn't even move fast, it will be like standing at the top of a building."

Kurt sighed and dropped his hands. "Alright, I'll go."

Blaine jumped up, grinning wildly. "Yes! Let's go let's go!" The dark haired boy nearly fell over himself as he ran over to the ticket booth with Kurt trailing behind. He bought two tickets and was in line before Kurt even caught up. Blaine looked like he was going to piss himself with excitement.

"We're gonna go, and we're gonna be on the very top and I'll be able to see the whole world." Blaine knew he was exaggerating, but he was just so thrilled to have talked Kurt into coming up with him.

When it was finally their turn, the boys sat down in the carriage and waited for the assistant to pull down the bar in front of them. Blaine was squirming in his seat as Kurt watched him from the corner of his eye. All of that sugar was definitely not a good idea.

They slowly made their way up. As they got higher, Kurt began to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was more apprehension from the height than actual sickness. He closed his eyes shut and griped the bar in front of him.

Blaine looked over, concerned. "Are you alright?" he asked. Maybe he shouldn't have forced Kurt to come with him.

"No, no, I'm okay. I just…" Kurt took a deep breath and opened his eyes, "I'm alright; I just needed a second." Truly, it wasn't that bad. The wheel was moving so slowly, it was easy to forget. Soon, he had settled back into the seat and watched the people on the ground grow smaller and smaller.

Blaine relaxed a little. He then began to think back to the movies he had seen. Usually when characters would go on Ferris Wheels, they would get stuck at the top, and then the two would find out that they liked each other and then everything was happily ever after. That seemed like a perfect situation to Blaine. As their carriage was about to reach the top, Blaine closed his eyes and hoped that something would happen, and it would get stuck.

"Please please," he muttered, speaking to no one in particular.

"Please what?" Kurt's voice broke Blaine's concentration.

"Whaa- Nothing." His pleading hadn't changed anything. They were still moving steadily, but going down this time. The entire way down he had a tiny hope that it would still stop, but of course it didn't, and the two finally got off once they reached the bottom again.

Blaine was slightly bummed when they started walking back towards the entrance to meet Burt. Kurt, though, actually had a smile on his face.

"Thanks for forcing me on that, I actually enjoyed it."

Blaine gave a small smile in return and stuck his hands in his pockets. He shrugged a little and kept walking.

Kurt slid his arms in Blaine's, linking their elbows together as he had done with Mercedes on multiple occasions, "really Blaine, it was amazing."

* * *

**{Hope you liked it! We are bordering on teenage Klaine, so that will be a major shift from what you've seen recently. Feel free to suggest topics, or let me know what you want to see next and I may consider adding it. As per usual, reviews are welcome and encouraged. Seeing them makes me want to write more, no matter what they say. I love you all!}**


	9. Coming Out Part 1

**{A/N: Hi there dear readers! I appreciate your patience with my non-regular updates. As a warning, school starts up again for me this week, so updates will be less frequent. I will try my best to get one out every week, but I may be late. I PROMISE that I will not stop writing until the story is finished, so no worries. Blaine is still 13 and Kurt still 14}.**

* * *

Blaine paced outside of McKinley High as he waited for the school to let out for the day. McKinley Middle was across the street, and it let out thirty minutes before the high school.

He had decided that he finally needed to tell Kurt the truth. Kurt needed to know that Blaine was gay, and that he was in love with him. Up until this point, the only person who knew was Cooper. He hadn't dared tell either of his parents. He knew that they were strictly against it, and this left Blaine all alone, as Blaine's brother was too busy becoming famous in LA to come home and help him out.

So with a little bit of research on his own, he'd figured out who he was, to a certain extent. Now it was time to let Kurt know. They had been drifting apart the past couple of years, but Kurt was still the only person Blaine knew he could rely on.

Kurt, however, was finding a new group of friends in the glee club at McKinley High. It made Blaine feel slightly left out whenever Kurt would spend hours rehearsing for some sort of competition.

So he waited. He walked in circles for a while. Then he tried sitting down. Within a few short moments that proved to be ineffective in reducing his stress, and he stood back up. He was undoing and retying his bowtie nonstop. It was a nervous habit that resulted in frayed, stretched out fabric.

What would Kurt say to him? He'd never actually told Blaine that he was gay, but it seemed somewhat obvious. What if he wasn't?

Blaine nearly talked himself into leaving, but he stood strong. Somehow, he managed to wait out the next fifteen minutes without hightailing it home.

At exactly 3:30, the bell rang and students flooded out of the doors. Blaine spotted Kurt chatting with Mercedes as the two walked out. Blaine took a deep breath and waited for the two to separate.

Finally, Mercedes left to find her parent's car, and Kurt began to shift nervously. He was an easy target for any jock looking to let off some steam, and being alone had always made him feel more vulnerable.

Blaine came up behind Kurt and tapped him on the shoulder. Blaine noticed how Kurt flinched when his hand came in contact with the pale boy's shoulder. As soon as Kurt noticed Blaine, though, he grinned and gave him a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Kurt asked, arms wrapped around his friend.

"I kind of needed to talk to you," Blaine said. He signaled with his hand that the two should go somewhere out of the earshot of the rest of the student body.

They stepped over to the side of the building. After Blaine checked to make sure no one was around, he turned to Kurt.

"I have something important to tell you. It's about me."

Kurt furrowed his eyebrows and nodded.

"I'm uhhm… I think I'm gay." Blaine shut his eyes tight after the words left his mouth. It was the first time he'd ever said those words out loud. When he'd spoken to Cooper, he skirted around the word. This time, he said it plain and simple. It felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off of his chest.

Kurt didn't respond; at least, he hadn't made a noise loud enough for Blaine to hear. He opened his eyes slowly to see Kurt looking down at him with sad, understanding eyes.

"Blaine, that's okay."

"Really? That seems to be the opposite of what everyone else tells me."

"You've told other people?"

"No. Well, I've told Cooper, but…" Blaine paused. "Everyone just makes it so clear that they don't agree with it and I don't know what to do. What can I do when the people that are supposed to love me unconditionally turn away from me because of one thing that I am?" Blaine was tearing up now. He didn't mean to cry in front of Kurt at all, but he'd never really been able to hide his emotions well.

Kurt tugged Blaine toward him and held him close. "We'll get through this together."

"Together?"

"Yeah. I mean I am too. Gay. I'm gay too. I thought I was the only one here, but I guess…" Kurt trailed off.

Minutes later, the boys pulled apart and Blaine managed to collect himself. He got ready to tell Kurt the next part: the fact that he really liked him more than just a friend. Blaine wanted to spend every day with Kurt, even if that was a stretch for their conflicting schedules.

Just as he opened his mouth, he noticed Kurt staring behind him. It was a bunch of football players, messing around and tossing a ball between them. Kurt's eyes followed the tallest player with an intense gaze.

Blaine looked at the player, then back at Kurt. "Who's that?" he asked.

"Finn Hudson: he's only the dreamiest man on the planet."

Everything came crashing down around Blaine. Not two minutes ago, they had just mutually confessed what was, unfortunately, the most scandalous secret one could hold in Lima, Ohio. Now Kurt was staring at another boy and Blaine knew he didn't have a shot.

He shut his mouth and nodded a little, pretending that he found Finn interesting too.

* * *

**{A/N: To be continued. I wanted to update, so I'm inserting a break into this scene and releasing what I have. Thanks to my beta! As always: reviews are appreciated.}**


	10. Coming Out Part 2

**{A/N: As you can see, this is a continuation of the last chapter. Blaine is still 13, Kurt 14. Trigger warning for mild bullying.}**

* * *

Blaine wiped away the moisture from the corner of his eye. _I won't cry, I won't cry. There's no use in crying._ He'd been struggling to hold himself together for the past few minutes. After listening to Kurt gush about the _gorgeous_ Finn Hudson, Blaine finally made an excuse to leave. He walked around the exterior of the school, sinking down next to one of the dumpsters. In an attempt to make himself as small as possible, he pulled his knees up, and wrapped his arms around them.

His head dropped down onto his knees and Blaine proceeded to take a few shaky breaths. There was no use in self pity; that much he knew. Yet, there was a feeling of despair deep inside of him. This was more than just a school boy crush. Kurt was…everything. Even if they didn't talk as often, and Kurt had found new friends, he was always there when Blaine needed him.

Apparently Kurt didn't have the same attachment.

He picked up his head and began to mess with his bowtie again. At the third tie, Blaine heard a small ripping noise. He slid the fabric off of his neck to find a tear right though the middle of the cloth.

And then he cried.

He let the tie flutter to the ground next to him as he began sobbing. Not only because of Kurt, but because he was so tired of watching everything fall apart. He just felt so isolated all of the time. He had few friends at school, and those he knew were only acquaintances. Cooper came home to visit less frequently, and spoke to Blaine less often. To make matters worse, he would have to listen to his parents discuss their plans for shooting down the gay rights bill that was working its way through the Ohio government.

He couldn't tell his parents. Blaine was left to live with his secret. Alone.

A few minutes later, Blaine heard voices nearing. He scrambled up and wiped his eyes. Taking a few deep breaths, he squared his shoulders to appear as steady as possible. There were still signs of his distress only moments before: his red rimmed eyes, the torn bowtie at his feet. An outside observer, however, wouldn't have thought anything was particularly wrong. Just that Blaine looked a little tired.

A group of jocks were headed his way, pushing each other around. One of them caught sight of Blaine. He looked small and helpless despite his attempts to appear strong; he was a target. The athlete strode up to the smaller boy.

"My my, what have we here? A new freshie?" He grinned menacingly. Blaine felt himself shrink under the older boy's gaze.

"N-no, I don't go here," he said in a small voice.

"Well, seeing as you aren't accustomed to tradition here at McKinley, maybe I should show you how we greet people."

Blaine saw the jock's eyes flicker towards the dumpster, and his eyes grew wide in response. He subconsciously took a few steps back. The bully, thinking that Blaine was about to run, reached out and grabbed his arms. He then signaled for his friends to help him lift Blaine. It didn't take much; Blaine was a pretty scrawny guy.

As he was lifted into the air, Blaine kicked and squirmed to no avail. The jocks held a tight grip on his limbs, and worked together to keep him still.

Within the next few moments, Blaine was flat on his back in a pile of trash bags. There was something wet in the one under his left leg, and could feel the dampness spreading onto his pants. The group had left almost immediately after they dropped Blaine, scared off by a wandering teacher.

Blaine didn't bother moving for a good five minutes. When he finally sat up, he promised himself that he was going to ask his dad for boxing lessons. He needed to learn how to defend himself. Blaine was sure his father would be thrilled to learn that his son was finally going to show interest in a sport.

He struggled to get out of the dumpster, and fell down to the ground. His pants were definitely ruined. He sighed, knowing that he was likely to get yelled at by his mother when he got home. He brushed off his pants, and pulled a small flip phone from his back pocket.

He dialed Cooper's number, praying that his brother would pick up this time.

"Hello?"

Blaine let himself smile a little, happy that his brother answered his phone. "Hey! Coop, I needed to talk to you—."

Cooper cut him off. "Yeah, Blaine. Hold on a sec."

Blaine could hear voices in the background: something about auditions and slots being quickly filled. He fidgeted nervously, and kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure the jocks weren't coming back for him.

Eventually, Cooper came back on the line, "Hey little bro, what's up?"

"I—um. I've just been having a rough day and didn't know who to talk too. I told Kurt. About me."

"He took it well?" Cooper asked.

"Yes, but…" Blaine trailed off. Did he _really _want to tell Cooper everything? Blaine had always been taught to keep his mouth shut, and as a result, he had a hard time confiding in people.

Blaine's pause had been long enough that Cooper was already distracted by something on the other line. He sensed that his older brother was no longer listening, so he decided to drop the issue.

"Never mind, I'll talk to you soon?" Blaine asked hopefully.

"Yeah, of course. I'm coming home in a few weeks. I'll try to call." Cooper hung up and left Blaine on the other line.

Blaine knew Cooper wasn't going to call anytime soon, and it was even less likely that he would be coming back within the next six months. He always promised to visit, but something would always come up. Blaine didn't blame him. If he had the chance, he never would leave Lima behind him and never look back.

Blaine shoved the phone into his pocket, and made his way to the sidewalk. He'd missed the bus to come see Kurt, so now he would have to walk home.

That night at dinner, Mr. Anderson suggested that Blaine attend a private live-away high school the following year. It was located in Westerville, far enough away from home. Blaine immediately took him up on that offer. There was nothing left for him here.

Dalton seemed promising enough.

* * *

**A/N: Don't hate me! I despise hurting Blaine because he is my baby, but there will be a lot of Blangst in the next few chapters. We all know what happens to Kurt in highschool, but we don't know much about Blaine. Therefore, Blaine will be the focus. I promise fluff in a few chapters to make everything better. (Better yet, not to plug my own work or anything, but **_**Always a Coffee Shop**_** is super fluffy in the meantime to get over this). **


	11. Dalton Part 1

**{A/N: aannd finally we move on one year-ish into the future. And this is the year. I only realized this when writing this series, but it's canon that Kurt and Blaine came out in the same year. "Officially" come out that is, because despite the previous chapter names, they didn't really come out to the world. So, as a result of the complexity and my brain being difficult, the next few chapters will take place in the same time period. I'm sorry this took so long; my teachers hate kids and decided to give us more work than should be humanely possible. Enjoy! Kurt is 15, Blaine 14. Thank you my wonderful beta FishDontTouchMyRedvines.}**

* * *

Blaine stood in front of the mirror and adjusted his tie for the fifth time that morning. There really wasn't any need for him to continue messing with it. It was tied perfectly, despite the fact that Blaine was _way_ more accustomed to wearing bowties.

It felt weird to have something around his neck again. He hadn't worn any form of tie since the day he was somewhat rejected by Kurt. He refused to have anything to do with them for the rest of the year. His mother had fought with him for days when he wouldn't wear a tie to his cousin's wedding. He'd only managed to get out of it after his dad had convinced her that it wasn't worth the trouble spending the time to force one on.

Three months after this debacle, Blaine was nervously preparing for his first day at Dalton. The move in the night before wasn't too bad, but it was lonely. Most of the boys spent their last night with their parents, having moved in during the day. Blaine's mom and dad had all but left Blaine at the entrance to the school with his boxes.

Not that he minded that they kept their distance; it was a breath of fresh air really.

If it wasn't for the help of another boy, who turned out to be his roommate, he never would have managed to get all of his stuff to his room and properly unpacked in one night.

The other boy introduced himself as Wes. In fact his exact words were "Lead Man of the Warblers—Wes."

"The who?" Blaine asked.

"Who? _Who_? The Warblers. They are pretty much the cream of the crop when it comes to musical talent at this school." Wes then gave Blaine a curious look, "Do you sing? Because if you do, you should definitely audition."

"Uhm… not really. I mean, I've sung in the shower I guess. Do you need a pianist? I taught myself the piano a while back."

"Maybe. We usually don't have any instruments, or if we do it's pretty minimal. I can see though."

From there the conversation died off. Wes tried a few more times to start conversations with Blaine, but for some reason they kept fading. To be honest, Blaine's mind was not really in that dorm with him. It was stuck in the past few years, and he was unable to shake the feelings of guilt and shame that had no true place in him.

The reason he came to Dalton was to escape that; to be himself and to leave behind his ghosts. Unfortunately that was easier said than done. Every time his mind was free, it went back to his family and his confusion.

That night the boys went to their respective beds in silence.

Blaine sighed as he looked in the mirror once again. Even in his Dalton uniform, there was something about his old self that he couldn't seem to shake away. A few stray curls stuck out near his ears, and he tried to get them to go back onto his head. A couple minutes later, he was still struggling to get them to stay put.

He growled a little to himself, more annoyed over the fact that they wouldn't stay down than he should have been. He squinted his eyes and pulled at the unruly strands of hair. Then, he saw a glint out of the corner of his eye.

Scissors.

Without thinking, Blaine whipped up the tool and pinched his hair between his fingers, fully prepared to cut off the ends of his hair.

That moment, Wes decided to walk in with a toothbrush dangling out of his mouth.

"What the _hell _do you think you are doing?" He exclaimed.

Blaine jumped a little and let his hands fall away from his hair. "I—I just, my hair. It won't stay down. And I was getting frustrated. So I…" Blaine tripped over his words in an attempt to explain himself.

Wes strode over to Blaine and plucked the scissors from his hands. "I need to hide these from you, this is not safe."

The boy walked over to the cabinet and took out a clear bottle and gave it to Blaine.

"Here, gel. Use this. It'll keep your hair in place without you having to chop it off. Just, use it sparingly. It's easy to go overboard."

Blaine accepted the bottle, and added the product to his hair. The result was flawlessly controlled and tame. He inspected his reflection for the hundredth time that morning. Perfect.

* * *

"So you're coming to Warbler's auditions right?"

"Should I?"

One week into classes, and Blaine was already feeling the pressure. Wes had mentioned the auditions a few times, but Blaine hadn't really given it much thought.

"I think so. If you've got the chance, why waste it? Your freshman year is the only year you are allowed to audition, because no one knows your ability yet. Once this window of opportunity is closed, though, you have to be invited."

"Seems a bit snooty."

Wes rolled his eyes, happy that Blaine was actually interacting. "Have you seen this school Blaine? Snooty is the general atmosphere here."

"I don't think I'm good enough though."

Wes placed a hand on his shoulder, "you could be." He paused to think. "Here," Wes stood up and led Blaine to the center of the room. "You stand here, and sing the first thing that comes to you mind. I'll tell you how it is."

Blaine hesitated, before slowly beginning with the intro of some bubbly top 40 song he'd heard a few days ago. As the song progressed, Blaine became more confident. By the last line, he was belting out every note and showing more enthusiasm for that song than he had for anything else in the past year.

Wes let out a quiet whistle when Blaine was finished.

"Blaine Anderson, if you aren't the head honcho of the group a year from now, I will hang up my Dalton jacket leave this school. Your voice..." He trailed off.

Blain furrowed his brows, "but it's just normal singing."

"_That_ was anything but normal. You managed to make the most pointless song on the planet mean something. Who thought Ke$ha could sound so… inspirational?"

"I…"

"You're auditioning. Tighten your tie, lace up that shoe, and get a song ready. We're leaving in ten minutes."

Blaine hazily got ready as he realized that he actually had a chance to become a part of something.

* * *

**{A/N: to be continued… please let me know what you think. Do you guys want me to continue with these multipart 'chapters' or go back to the original format? Reviews greatly appreciated!}**


	12. Dalton Part 2

**{A/N: I'm late, as usual. But here is part 10b. Still the same year as last time, but a few months in advance: Christmas season. I hope you all enjoy it! Blaine is 14.}**

* * *

Blaine turned off the TV and let the remote fall next to him. He'd been watching his mother give a pretty passionate speech about the sins of homosexuality for the past twenty minutes and could no longer handle it.

His mom was campaigning again on the highly conservative ticket, and Blaine was always there when she would talk about "maintaining the sanctity of marriage."

Two days before Christmas and everything was going worse than Blaine could have ever imagined.

The plan was to come home from Dalton for the holidays, spend the next few days being as behaved as possible, and then finally telling his parents the truth about who he was.

Encouraged by the few students at Dalton who were out and proud, Blaine decided he should do the same. His parents deserved to know, whether they wanted too or not. He'd carefully planned out what he was going to say, and mentally prepared himself for the backlash. Cooper was coming home, and after talking with Blaine, promised to help back him up.

So Blaine thought he was ready and prepared for everything. That is, until he finally got home. From the first moment every move Blaine made was criticized; every gesture was seen as offensive. He tried, he really did. Unfortunately, no matter what he did his parents were constantly disappointed.

He knew he had to do it though. He could not possibly keep living in secret and hiding who he was. Becoming a part of the Warblers helped him realize that _who he was mattered_. And he was gay.

* * *

That night Blaine helped their cook set up the dinner table. She was a stout, Russian woman with tightly pulled back hair. She spoke constantly, but often Blaine couldn't understand what she was saying. He talked with her about school in an attempt to calm his nerves. His hands shook as he reached for the silverware.

"Malchik, put zose knives down before you cut yourself. Skazhite mne, what is it that bothers you?"

Blaine set down the knives and sunk into a bar stool a few steps away. "Nothing, I'm just nervous." He put his head in his hands and let out a breath.

"Smart, handsome boy like you should not be nervous to tell his parents he is gay." She continued to cut tomatoes for the salad as she said this.

Blaine's head snapped up. The older woman rolled her eyes at his expression.

"Don't look so surprised. Everyone know except your mother."

"My dad…?"

"Cooper tell him almost year ago. Not on purpose."

Blaine fumed. No one was supposed to know. Cooper had promised not to tell anyone. All of the nerves had disappeared and were replaced by rage. The cook looked up to see Blaine's expression and immediately stopped her work. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked over to Blaine.

"Don't blame your brother for zis, he not so smart." She wrapped her arms around him and pulled Blaine close. "Everything will be okay."

Blaine breathed in a shaky breath and let himself fall into the embrace. He just had to survive tonight.

* * *

"Blaine, don't grip the fork so hard. It looks like you are going to stab someone."

Blaine paused and adjusted his hold. Today was not the day to try and argue why it didn't matter how hard he held his utensils. During the dinner, Blaine was carefully eyeing his dad. They both seemed to act normally, but he could have sworn his dad had an expectant look on his face whenever Blaine seemed ready to say something.

Blaine refused to look at Cooper at all.

Eventually, the table was cleared and they all sat drinking small cups of tea or coffee. Blaine took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

"Mom, Dad. I have something to tell you."

His mom dropped a sugar cube into her drink and glanced at him. Before he could continue, Blaine's father cut in.

"Are you sure? Do you need to speak now or can it wait?"

"I—."

"Oh let the boy speak," Blaine's mom waved him off.

Blaine glanced from parent to parent before deciding it was okay to continue. "Well then. I need to tell you something important, about me. I'm not…I find…" Blaine forgot his words. The carefully prepared speech was thrown out the window.

He chewed on his bottom lip and closed his eyes. _Just say it. _

"I'm gay."

The silence that followed those two words was louder than anything Blaine had ever experienced. The only shocked expression was that of his mom, who sat across from him with her mouth slightly ajar.

Blaine shrunk down, unsure if he should say anything else.

Finally, she spoke: "No you're not."

"Wh-what?"

"You are not gay Blaine. Not in this house you aren't."

Blaine stared at her wide eyed. "How can I not be?"

"You simply aren't. You made the decision to like boys, now choose to change that."

"For Christ sakes Sandra it isn't a choice!"

Blaine almost didn't register what his father had yelled across the table. Had his dad actually said something in his defense?

"Excuse me?!" Mrs. Anderson screeched, "I will not have _him_ in this house as long as he is involved in things that go completely against nature!"

"He is your SON."

Both Cooper and Blaine were watching the argument and trying to attract as little attention to themselves as possible. When it looked as if Mrs. Anderson was ready to fling her cup across the room, the boys took it as their sign to leave. Cooper stood and motioned for Blaine to follow him out. As they left, the argument became more heated.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" Cooper asked Blaine, who looked exhausted. He nodded silently and let Cooper take him to the car. He sat down and leaned back against the seat, wishing everything to go away.

The first ten minutes of the drive were in silence. Neither of them spoke a word. Cooper started straight ahead and Blaine had his eyes shut for the majority of the time.

"I can't believe you told him," Blaine finally said.

"I didn't mean to Blaine. It kind of slipped out."

"I trusted you."

Cooper didn't respond. He pulled into the parking lot of The Lima Bean and stopped in the spot closest to the entrance. After shutting off the car, he shifted towards Blaine.

"Hey, little brother, it'll be okay. I promise."

Blaine's eyes welled up with a few tears, "You heard what she said."

"and you heard what dad responded. We'll get through this." Cooper reached across and gave Blaine the best hug he could manage at that angle.

"Okay?" Cooper asked.

"Okay."

"Great, now let me buy you coffee and we'll talk about something not home related."

Blaine nodded and followed Cooper's lead out of the car and into the shop.

* * *

**{Thank you for reading and being patient with me! I'll update asap.}**


	13. In Which Kurt Returns

**{A/N: Kurt is back! Yay! I missed writing him, so I'm pretty happy he'll be in this chapter, and should be in all of them from now on. This is Blaine's sophomore year and Kurt's Junior year. I am trying my best to get these out, but school drains everything from me and I never want to post less than my best effort. If you are still reading, I love you.}**

* * *

Blaine sat at his desk, finishing up an essay for his English Lit class. Wes had been MIA since early morning, so Blaine pretty much had the room to himself that Sunday.

While he was scanning the document for possible mistakes, Blaine's phone rang by his bedside. He hoped that it wasn't him mom calling again, trying to change his mind. Blaine's dad had convinced her to keep him as a part of the family, but that didn't stop her from constantly trying to 'fix' him.

He turned begrudgingly and made his way over to his bedside table.

Kurt.

Now Blaine was really confused. He hadn't spoken to Kurt in nearly a year. The easy friendship from their childhood had faded out.

After hesitating, Blaine finally picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he asked tentatively.

"Blaine? Hi, it's Kurt. Can we meet somewhere? "We need to talk."

Blaine glanced over at his desk where a pile of homework stood. That _definitely _could wait another day.

"Sure, where did you…"

"The Lima Bean," Kurt said before Blaine could finish his sentence. "In maybe thirty minutes?"

"Okay," Blaine responded. "I'll be there."

* * *

Kurt got to the coffee shop in fifteen minutes and sat in the corner waiting for Blaine to arrive. He stirred his mocha absentmindedly and tried his best to stay calm.

Kurt calling Blaine had been a sudden thing. One minute he was sitting on his bed, dreading returning to school and the next he was calling Blaine.

The past couple of years had been tough on Kurt. He was a social outcast and bullied in school on a regular basis. He officially came out only the year before, and it certainly made matters worse—even if he was proud of who he was. His friends tried to help, but they didn't quite understand what he was going through.

That's when Kurt remembered Blaine. Not that he ever forgot his childhood friend, but he remembered how similar of situations they were in.

Well, maybe not exactly the same. Kurt had no idea what Blaine's relationship with his friends and family was. Blaine was at Dalton, and he was a part of the Warblers. That was all he knew. Everything else he knew about Blaine's life was likely outdated.

But there was a chance that Blaine could help, and that was a chance Kurt was completely willing to take.

When Blaine walked in the door not five minutes later, it took Kurt a few seconds to recognize him. It wasn't the fact that Blaine had gotten taller, or that his face had matured some, but that his hair was nowhere near the curly mess it used to be. It completely changed Blaine's demeanor. He walked with purpose, but not lightheartedly as he used to. There was a stiffness about him that Kurt was definitely not expecting to see. The old Blaine seemed to be hiding underneath a layer of gel and a new persona.

After the initial shock from seeing Blaine, Kurt raised his hand in attempt to flag him down. When Blaine turned to him, a grin spread across his face. _That_ was something Kurt recognized with ease.

Blaine didn't even bother ordering anything from the barista. He walked straight towards Kurt. Kurt stood to greet him, and was pleasantly surprised when Blaine didn't bother with formalities. Instead of saying hello, of shaking hands, Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt in a too-tight hug.

Blaine remained in that position perhaps a moment longer than usual before dropping his arms and taking a step back. He searched Kurt's face for signs of discomfort. The hug was a spur-of-the-moment type thing, and he wasn't sure exactly how Kurt would react.

"God I've missed you," Kurt said.

That was all Blaine needed to hear.

* * *

An hour later they were both finished with their drinks—Blaine had finally decided to order a coffee twenty minutes after he arrived—and still deep in conversation. They discussed their respective glee clubs, their new friends at school, and everything that had happened in the year between.

Blaine told Kurt about his home situation, and how things were slowly getting better. Kurt offered much needed sympathy, even if he had trouble grasping the idea of a mother who was willing to disown her own son.

Then Kurt told Blaine about the bullies. Karofsky, Azimo, Rick.

"Everyday it's something or someone new, but everyday it's the same. The shame, humiliation. I've just gotten so tired of it all."

Blaine's stomach twisted when he heard Kurt's story of being shoved into his locker so roughly that he bruised. Blaine had Dalton. Kurt was basically alone in a sea of hate. With each story, Blaine became more agitated. Where were the teachers? The friends? _There has got to be some way to stop this._

Kurt fell silent when he noticed Blaine's twisted expression. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, of course not."

"Are you…okay?"

The grimace left Blaine's face and was replaced with a look of concern. "Yes, but you aren't."

Kurt sighed, "I wish I could say yes I am, but that's not the case."

"Have you considered leaving?"

"Leaving McKinley? Sure but I don't really have any place else to go."

"Dalton."

A tiny part of Blaine just wanted Kurt to come to Dalton so that they could spend time together, but in reality Blaine knew that the boarding school could do wonders for Kurt personally.

"I don't even know if I can afford Dalton, or leave my friends, or start a new life…"

"Kurt," Blaine began, "if you dread waking up to go to school every day, if people try to intimidate you into hiding yourself, you should do everything in your power to get out of the situation."

"But…"

"Look at me," Blaine gestured for Kurt to look him in the eyes, "if not Dalton, some other school then closer to home. There are 3 other public schools in the area, but you can't stay at McKinley if no one is willing to help you when you need it."

Kurt bit his lip, deep in thought. Blaine decided to give him a second to himself. He stood up. "I'll be back in a minute," he stated, and he went to the bathroom to kill some time.

* * *

Once he returned, Kurt was sitting back in his chair and staring into space. A napkin was in the center of the table. On it, Kurt had drawn a ladybug. Blaine sat down, confused as to what exactly it meant.

"Do you remember back when we were really little, and we spent the entire day at the playground. First you tried to build a wall out of sand around me." Kurt paused to laugh at the memory. Blaine didn't quite remember the day as well as Kurt seemed to, but a hazy picture was starting to materialize in the back of his mind.

"…and then another boy pushed me off the swing and you tried to make sure I was okay."

Blaine blinked. Where was this going?

"And after that, we went our own way to play together. I remember walking up to you while you were picking flowers and grass for… mud pies was it? Anyway, you stopped picking and started talking to a ladybug and told him how he was different but that made him special… like me."

"I sort of remember that, yes. But how is this relevant?"

"Because Blaine," Kurt sat back up no longer in a reverie, "even when we were little kids you stood up for me, like you are doing now. I've been suffering at McKinley while most of my friends are too afraid to stand beside me and show off who we are as individuals. I think I'd like to be somewhere where I'm accepted unconditionally."

"So this means…?"

"I'm transferring to Dalton."

* * *

**{Hope you liked it enough to forgive me for taking so long! Reviews are encouraged and appreciated as always. I kind of have an idea for the next chapter so it should come out faster than this one did, but no promises because I might break it. Thank You!}**


	14. Say Yes

**{A/N: Okay so this is where the story becomes REALLY AU-ish. The characters will remain canon as they have, but the story will not resemble the actual glee plot. The biggest thing being that they are staying at Dalton until they both graduate. I promise updates will eventually go back to being regular, but I don't know when. I know I apologize every time but I know how annoying it can be when people don't update enough for my taste, and I hate doing the same to others. Thank you to my beautiful wonderful beta. This is towards the end of Kurt's Junior year and Blaine's Sophomore year.}**

* * *

"If ever there was a bad shade of white that would be it." Kurt reached over Blaine to grab the bowl of popcorn on the other side of the bed. Somehow the two of them had begun a ritual of watching _Say Yes to the Dress _every Thursday night in Blaine's dorm.

Three weeks after Kurt's transfer, they started watching it. It wasn't as if it was the most entertaining of all the reality shows, but it was _their _show.

"I agree, it totally washes her out." Blaine picked up the bowl and brought it close enough for Kurt to reach without even looking away from the screen.

"I wish I could just go there and tell them which dress to buy so we didn't have to watch them struggle for a half hour. It really isn't that hard." Kurt shoved a bunch of popcorn into his mouth.

"You'd be better help than any of those attendants."

"I _know._ Look at it. Look at that. I cannot sit here and watch this mother try to convince her daughter to buy that dress."

"…but you are sitting here."

Kurt swatted Blaine's arm, "Hush, you know what I mean."

Blaine grinned and turned his attention back to the screen. The show had switched to another customer with a surly father and a jealous maid of honor. They sat in silence while the girl tried on five different dresses and was almost talked into getting the ugliest one.

Kurt leaned over onto Blaine, who sat with his back against the headboard. In a few minutes, the pressure caused his arm to fall asleep, but he didn't move for fear of Kurt sitting back up.

Minutes passed.

"Blaine?"

"Hmm?" Blaine turned his head from the TV and glanced down at Kurt.

"What would you do, hypothetically, if someone kissed you without your permission?"

Blaine's heart jumped a little at the word "kissed," and it took a second for him to think of an answer.

"Um, I don't know. I guess it depends on who, and when, and how, and what?"

"Okay, what if they did it after they just told you how much they hate you?"

He blinked. "Did someone…?"

"What? Me? No. Of course not." Kurt's face flushed red and he quickly turned back to the TV, suddenly very interested in the shaving cream commercial on screen.

"Kurt." Blaine said sternly.

Kurt bit his bottom lip, trying to decide if he should tell Blaine. He sighed and sat up. Blaine tried to move his arm a little, waking it back up and giving Kurt his full attention.

"You remember David Karofsky?"

"He didn't."

Kurt didn't answer. He looked down at the bedspread and began to play with the fabric.

"Kurt, did he…?"

He nodded, suddenly looking much smaller than before. Kurt's eyes never strayed from the sheets, and he began to bite on his lower lip.

Blaine could see it all. Kurt was confused, he was worried, he was scared. It hurt him just to see his friend like this. It was not okay. Blaine could feel himself getting more upset by the second imagining David's face dangerously close to Kurt's. The rage grew from inside, somewhere above his stomach.

Kurt could sense something was off. Blaine had stopped fidgeting his feet, and was stock still. He dared to glance up for a moment, only to return his gaze just as quickly. Blaine looked terrifying. His eyes were hooded and jaw was set. For a moment, Kurt could only see Mr. Anderson, and it frightened him.

_Get it together Blaine, breathe. In, out, in, out. _

He spoke to himself in his head, trying to talk himself out of hurling something across the room. It was as if suddenly, every negative emotion he'd held in for a while was threatening to explode. He was okay with people picking on him, especially since it didn't happen as much, but Kurt didn't deserve it. Kurt was inherently good, and it just was not fair that someone could _abuse_ him and he would be too afraid or intimidated to get help right away.

Life was just not fair for him.

Blaine shut his eyes and soon was back to normal. His muscles relaxed and he slowly blinked his eyes open.

"I'm sorry," He murmured after seeing Kurt's uneasy expression.

"It's not your fight Blaine," Kurt responded, "please don't do something on impulse."

Blaine nodded, eyes down. "But, Kurt… you need someone to help you."

"I can't just tell someone, he, uh…he kind of threatened my life."

"WHAT?!"

Kurt's eyebrows came together in worry, but he didn't say anything more.

Blaine stood up and marched straight out of the room, leaving Kurt behind on the bed. Only after the door slammed behind him did Kurt even think about chasing after him. He scrambled up and ran to the door. When he got through it, he could see Blaine disappearing around the corner. He jogged after him, catching Blaine right as he was about to exit the dorm.

"Blaine, wait."

Blaine stopped, teeth grinding. "No Kurt, this is not okay. We can't just stay here while he sits at home with zero repercussions. It's not right."

"So what are you going to do now?" Kurt asked softly, trying to turn Blaine back towards the door. "You can't just march into his house and hit him on the head. We have no evidence so the police aren't really an option. Just, come back Blaine and we'll worry about this later."

"Later is not soon enough."

Kurt sighed and took Blaine's arm, "Back. Now."

Blaine resisted a little, but allowed Kurt to lead him back to his room.

"You need to tell someone Kurt. Someone who can listen, and help you do something."

"I know Blaine, I know. That's why I told you."


	15. Finally

**{A/N: Right so, Kurt's Senior year and Blaine's Junior year. This is the last update for another couple of weeks until I finish all of my college applications, so I hope this makes up for the inevitable wait!}**

* * *

_Message From: Nick: _**Are you planning on coming out of your room any time soon? It'll be a lot of fun!**

Blaine lazily rolled over on his bed and picked up his phone. He read Nick's message and let the phone drop onto the sheets without replying. The past few days had consisted of Blaine wallowing in a constant state of melancholy.

Three days to be exact. Tuesday night Kurt told him that he met someone, and was going on his first date on Friday evening.

"Just dinner, nothing special," Kurt had said.

"That's great! I'm really happy for you!" Blaine had said, but that's not what he meant. What he wished he could say was: "No! Don't go. You can't go." But he didn't. Blaine didn't utter one word. Instead he put on a brave face in class, and retreated to his room to self-pity for the remainder of the day.

Now that it was Friday night, Blaine just wanted to cry from frustration. He flipped through the channels, careful to switch rapidly over TLC in case their show came up. He wasn't really watching, but the noise and movement was comforting. It made the fact that he was alone less obvious.

His phone buzzed again. Once. Twice. Three times. Blaine turned it off. Nick had been trying incessantly to get Blaine to come to the dorm party, but Blaine wasn't feeling it. He'd said so that afternoon, and a couple hours ago when Nick stopped by. Blaine mumbled a half-formed excuse about homework and laundry, and Nick had finally left in a huff.

He glanced at the clock. 7:47. Kurt had left at 6:30, and probably wouldn't be back for ages. Even if he did, Blaine was sure that Kurt wouldn't even bother to stop by his room.

He switched off the TV, and decided to just try to go to sleep. No use in staying in a deep depression for the next few hours. He brushed his teeth, washed out the gel in his hair, and put on his pajamas. He walked over to his bed and lifted a corner of his sheet, crawling under the covers.

After curling up on his side and making himself comfortable, there was a knock on the door.

Blaine let out a breath of air. _Figures_. He kicked off the sheets and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He flicked the switch next to the door and turned the handle, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"For the last time Nick I'm not coming d—oh. Hi."Blaine was staring right at Kurt, who looked a bit frazzled.

"Hey, did I wake you up?"

"No, I only just got into bed."

"I can come back later," Kurt said, backing away from the entrance.

"No no, don't worry." Blaine stepped aside and gestured for Kurt to enter. He walked in and took his bag off his shoulder, dropping it in its usual corner near Blaine's desk chair.

"Remind me to never ever go on a date ever again." Kurt sighed. He plopped down on the side of Blaine's bed and fell backwards. His arms were extended at his sides and he stared at the ceiling.

"What happened?" Blaine asked as he jumped on the bed. He settled himself down next to Kurt and sat cross legged.

"It took him all of five minutes to start dropping hints about 'going back to his place' and he kept being weirdly suggestive."

"Well you can't blame him."

Kurt turned to Blaine. "What does that mean exactly?"

Blaine blushed and opened his mouth. It took a second for any sound to follow the action. "I mean. It's just that. You know."

Kurt raised an eyebrow.

Blaine looked away, searching for the best way to phrase _exactly what he meant."_

"Blaine would you stop over thinking things and just tell me? If you still can't tell me what's on your mind then there's a problem."

"It's just that you're beautiful Kurt. And not in the cliché you have a pretty face. You're just flawless all around: your face and your hands and your legs and your hair and even those freckles that you hide under all of that concealer in the summer. No matter what you do to your face, though, you still look like you. And you wear _you_ so well because you're proud of every aspect of yourself. You don't let other people pull you down because you know you don't deserve it. The best part: you _care_ Kurt. You care about everyone and everything and it makes it so easy to fall in love."

Blaine took a shaky breath and looked at Kurt in the eyes. He hadn't explicitly said it. The truth was that Blaine Anderson was completely head over heels for Kurt. He was most definitely in love, and it scared him to finally let it out in the open.

Kurt stared at him with his lips parted. "Blaine I—."

"No, I'm sorry," Blaine turned his head away, "that crossed a couple boundaries."

"It did." Kurt said. Blaine felt his heart sink. "But, that just means you've finally come close enough to me."

Blaine looked back. The next thing he knew, Kurt's lips were on his. His eyes widened in surprise, but he soon let himself melt into the kiss.

Then he was smiling, and Kurt was too. Their grins grew wider until it was less of a kiss, and more of two boys with their mouths touching and noses brushing against each other. Their breath mingled in the tiny space in between them. Kurt's hand fluttered over Blaine's cheek, sending shivers down the smaller boy's spine.

Moments passed. Not a word passed between the two of them for several minutes.

Eventually, they broke apart, breathless. Kurt's cheeks were clearly flushed, and Blaine was staring down at his bedspread.

"Does this mean?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied.

"Finally," Blaine breathed as he leaned back towards Kurt.

* * *

**{A/N: Let me know how you liked it. Reviews always welcome!}**


	16. Soon

**{A/N: I'M BACK! WOO! I'm super excited to be back in the swing of things now that the worst is behind me. I've still got a lot of work to do, but things have calmed down enough for me to start writing normally again. So I hope you enjoy this. I made it cute and fluffy and only a little bittersweet. Nothing to heavy since us Klainers are not in the mindset to be hurt right now. At least I know I'm not. Thank you so much for being so understanding of me being practically nonexistant for the past two months. Enjoy!}**

* * *

"This one is my favorite," Blaine said, picking up a framed photo of him and Kurt from the previous year's prom. "Look at it, we had only been dating for a couple of months."

Kurt looked up from the box he was packing and strained his neck to get a good view of the picture inside the frame. Blaine brought it over and knelt next to Kurt. He ran his fingers along the edge with slight feeling of nostalgia.

Kurt smiled at the picture. "Keep it."

Blaine lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "What? Kurt I can't. It's yours."

Kurt stood up and kissed the top of Blaine's head. "It's okay. You're moving in with me in one year, so I'll have it back soon anyway."

He walked to the other side of the room and lifted a neatly folded pile of pants. He brought them back over to the box and set them down when he heard a quiet sniffle.

He looked down at Blaine, who was now sitting cross-legged on the floor with the frame in his lap and his head bent forward.

"Blaine?"

Blaine looked up at him with slightly red-rimmed eyes. He wasn't quite crying, but he definitely was not okay. Upon seeing this, fell back down next to him and wrapped his arms around Blaine's shoulders. "Why are you so upset?"

"I think it just hit me that you are actually going to be gone for a year." Blaine rubbed his nose and blinked a few times to compose himself. "It's always been this abstract concept—you leaving—that I didn't really think about what it would be like once you're gone."

"But I won't be gone." Kurt said reassuringly. He placed his head onto Blaine's shoulder and held on as tight as he could. "Even so, soon you'll be there, and we'll do all of the stereotypically New York things. Go shopping, ice skate at the Rockefeller Center, eat questionable food from a creepy vendor…"

Blaine laughed and pulled Kurt around by the waist. "That'll be the best," he said while nuzzling Kurt's neck.

Kurt giggled as Blaine's breath tickled his skin.

"Still, I'm going to miss this." Blaine breathed. He fell sideways from sitting position to the ground, taking Kurt with him. Blaine held his boyfriend tight around the waist. He could smell Kurt's forty dollar shampoo, and the clean smell of his t-shirt. Kurt's light skin was prickled with goosebumps from the air conditioning, but it was still soft as ever. Blaine held on, trying to imprint the sensations into his mind.

Kurt could feel the rhythmic thump of Blaine's heart against his back and began to focus in on the soft pulse. He smiled when he felt Blaine kiss the back of his neck and placed his hands on top of Blaine's. Soon, Kurt was asleep, exhausted from running around and packing the entire day.

When he realized Kurt was sleeping, Blaine carefully stood up in an attempt to not wake him. He took a throw pillow off of Kurt's chair and placed it under his head. Kurt murmured something about organizing the brooches, but Blaine shushed him and told him to finish his nap. Blaine took a picture of Kurt sleeping with his phone. Kurt was placed right in the middle of the half-organized room with boxes surrounding him. He reminded himself to save it for someday in the future.

* * *

"Remember not to take anything from strangers! And make sure you don't go out by yourself at night. Don't party too much. OH and don't you dare think about going somewhere with someone you don't know! Remember, stranger danger."

Kurt rolled his eyes as Burt kept reminding him of things he shouldn't do while in New York. Kurt had been accepted into Parson's on a full tuition, thanks to the rigorous studies at Dalton, lots of help from Blaine, and his flawless portfolio.

"Dad, don't worry about me. I've talked to Rachel, back from McKinley year, and she said I'm welcome to stay with her if need be. Besides, I'm not really a party person."

Burt sighed, "I know Kurt, and I trust you completely. I'm just going to miss my boy." Burt pulled Kurt in for the sixth hug he'd received from his dad since they arrived at the airport.

"I love you so much," Burt choked out, "I'm proud of you."

"I love you too."

Burt stepped back and clapped Kurt on the shoulder. "I'll see you in a month. Don't forget to call your old man from time to time."

Kurt nodded, and then turned to Blaine. The dark haired boy had a bittersweet smile on his face. When Kurt opened his arms, Blaine practically collapsed into them and let out a long breath.

"47 days until I see you again," he said.

Kurt laughed and let go of Blaine. "I'll skype you when I get situated in my dorm tonight, don't worry."

"Hey!" Burt exclaimed from behind them, "Don't I get a skype date too?"

Kurt grinned, "Yes dad, you get a skype date too."

Burt relaxed, placated for only a moment until he looked at the time.

"It's time it's time, your plane is leaving in twenty minutes!"

Kurt glanced at the clock to see that he had a good forty-five minutes until the plane left, but he should still start moving through customs. He gently kissed his boyfriend on the lips before he broke apart from a very reluctant Blaine.

He could see Blaine's eyebrows bunched together in a way Kurt knew only meant he was worried.

"Soon," Kurt promised, and that was enough for Blaine's shoulders to relax and a small smile to appear on his face.

"I love you both," Kurt said, addressing the two best men in his life. He then stepped into the line with his boarding pass and ID in hand.

After a flurry of motion and a rather embarrassing instance where he almost walked through the metal detector with one shoe on, Kurt was on the other side. He could still see Blaine and his dad standing at the entrance. He waved and laughed when Blaine blew him a kiss. As cheesy as it was, he loved it. As Kurt turned to walk towards his gate, he could his stomach flip with nerves and excitement.

His life was beginning.

* * *

**{A/N: Reviews make me happier than Blaine in a bowtie warehouse, so you should leave one if you want to spread happiness.}**


	17. On My Own

**[A/N: Hi there! I'm sorry this is so late, I really should make a writing schedule. This takes place about 8 months after Kurt leaves for New York.]**

* * *

"What do you mean I can't go?"

"You aren't going to school in New York and that is final. That city is full of sin, who knows what will happen if you go there."

Blaine blinked, his face suddenly feeling much hotter. "Mom, I—I have to go. It's _Columbia. _Colleges really don't get better than that. Arguably better than Yale."

"Hey," his dad glanced up from above his book.

"I'm sorry dad, but I've worked so hard and done so much for this school. I thought you would be happy because I got into an Ivy League, that maybe you wouldn't give me the hell Cooper got when he decided he wanted to move to a city."

"Blaine Anderson, do not speak to me in that manner."

Blaine sighed. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm down. When he pulled his hand away, he could feel his eyes begin to water. He steadied himself, looking up until the tears passed. "But, it's where everything is. Where Kurt—"

"Oh please, if you ask me the last thing you need to do is see _him_," she snapped, her voice laden with contempt.

Blaine cringed at the hatred in her voice.

Mr. Anderson shut his book, taking off his reading glasses and placing them on the counter. "Sandra maybe we shouldn't…"

"No, I'm going to talk about it. I've been tolerant of this…this phase for the past couple of years but it's time you grow up Blaine. You need to drop your shortsighted dreams of being a writer, get a useful degree, and find a nice woman to settle down with. You've gotten into some pretty good schools in smaller, more conventional cities. You can go there instead."

"You want me to go somewhere so I can be ashamed of myself? So that I'll change to fit what you want?"

"No one is telling you to be ashamed of yourself." Mrs. Anderson said. "You just don't need to go somewhere that will encourage your bad habits."

Blaine bit down on his lower lip, glancing over at his dad, hoping for a little bit of support. Finding none, he resigned himself to fall onto the living room couch, his head in his hands. Here he was, eighteen and so close to actually getting out. He thought that within six months, everything would be better. Now that his mom was planning on changing all of that, it looked like Blaine's future was going to be thrown.

"Now that this is settled, you can go and think about which school you want to choose. You've got a healthy list to pick from."

Blaine couldn't even bear thinking about the other options. No other school that he had gotten accepted to had been his choice. They were all places his mom made him apply to.

But this was _his _future. His future and his happiness were on the line, and he didn't have to live for his parents anymore. He needed to live for himself, and choose his future.

Blaine sat up, looking his mother in the eye. "I won't."

"Like hell you won't. How do you expect to go anywhere without our money?" she sneered.

Blaine pursed his lips, holding back nasty comments about how the money they earned was mostly acquired through cheating and maneuvering the system.

"Right. Now go. You've got a week to pick."

* * *

That night Blaine spent a lot of time thinking. He called Kurt in hysterics, panicking about what was going to happen to him. The past couple of months had been hard enough with Kurt gone and the never ending stress of applications and senior year.

"I just don't know Kurt, what if I end up hating everything I do? I don't know what's going to happen…"

"Shhh, honey, don't worry. You know that you have options. You can make the choice to move to New York."

"How? I just don't see how I can survive there without the support from my parents."

"It will be hard, but you know you can always move in with me if you need to, and you'll have to work, but we can make it happen."

"Do you think so? It's such an expensive school, and New York isn't exactly an affordable city."

"I'm sure Blaine. You don't have to throw away your life."

"Thank you, Kurt. I love you."

"I love you too Blaine, more than you know."

"I'll call you tomorrow."

* * *

The next morning, Blaine walked into the kitchen with his head held high and his mind set. He made his way over to the table where his parents sat and dropped an envelope in front of them.

"This is my decision. I'm sending it in today."

The front of the envelope read _Columbia University in the city of New York._

His mom rolled her eyes. "Funny."

"I'm not kidding," Blaine said. "Even if I have to work every day to pay for it, I'm going."

"Good, because you will be," she said.

Blaine nodded, the weight of her words settling on his shoulders. He realized that his life was going to change drastically. The comforts that he was used to would no longer be available. Being a student would be tough, and being a working student was going to be harder, but Blaine was going to make it work.

He had to make it work.

* * *

**[A/N: Don't be sad! Everything works out in the end. Thanks for sticking around if you are still reading! There will only be a few more chapters in this series, and it will soon be coming to a close. Thank you so much for all of the support. As usual, if you liked it I would love a review!]**


	18. Will You?

**A/N: I suck I suck I suck I'm sorry it has literally been a month I'm sorry. This is the second to last chapter in the series, just a heads up. Thank you to everyone that has read and been here since July! I hope you enjoy the fluff!**

* * *

"Blaine! I'm home!"

Blaine rolled over in the tiny twin bed, throwing a pillow over his head. Even though it was 5 PM, he was utterly exhausted. This was his first day off in over a month, and he was taking full advantage. Being a student was hard enough. Being a student with three additional jobs was pure torture. He'd been at it for nearly four years now. Kurt graduated the year before and got a job working as a subordinate dresser at GQ. Blaine was looking forward to the day when he would receive his own diploma and could start his own professional career.

Kurt hung up his bag next to the door and slid off his shoes. "Blaine!"

Blaine groaned and started to slide off the bed. He stopped halfway through, letting his body droop half off in exhaustion.

Kurt followed the sound of the noise, chuckling when he caught sight of his boyfriend slowly slipping off the edge. "Come on you dork," he laughed, tossing his jacket on top of Blaine. "We've got dinner plans."

A muffled reply came from Blaine as Kurt walked behind a folding screen to change from his work clothes.

"What was that?" Kurt asked, slinging a pair of jeans over the partition.

Blaine pulled the pillow and jacket off of his head and rolled onto his back. "Can I just stay here instead? The bed is so comfortable."

Kurt came back out, having changed into a pair of tailored pants and a designer shirt and waistcoat combination that had been loaned to him by a coworker. He pulled his pants off of the room divider and tossed them into the hamper on the other side of the room. After, he stepped lightly over to Blaine and sat down next to him. Running a hand through his free curls, Kurt leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

"Come on sleeping beauty. I reserved this restaurant months ago, we're going."

"Sleeping beauty got kissed on the lips before she woke up," Blaine murmured in response. his eyes still shut.

Kurt rolled his eyes and dropped a light kiss onto Blaine's closed mouth. Blaine smiled as Kurt pulled away and let his eyes flutter open.

"See? I'm awake."

"Good," Kurt responded, standing back up. "Now wash and get dressed. We have to leave in less than thirty minutes."

Sighing, Blaine pulled himself up to sitting position and then stumbled into the bathroom. As soon as Kurt heard the shower turn on, and the muffled thump as Blaine stepped in, he rushed over to the kitchen. After pulling out a stool and stepping up onto it, Kurt reached on top of the cabinets, feeling around for something small.

His fingers brushed the satin exterior, and he smiled as he closed his fingers around it. He quickly hopped off and replaced the stool, then slid his object into his bag.

Not much later, the water turned off and Kurt could hear Blaine pattering around the bathroom. Glancing at the clock and realizing there wasn't much time left, he decided to pick out Blaine's clothes. He pulled out a pair of simple, grey pants and a light blue, collared shirt. After a moment's thought, he grabbed a cream colored bowtie and matching suspenders. He knew Blaine would love it.

Kurt knocked on the door and Blaine cracked it open, allowing a burst of steam to escape the tiny bathroom. Kurt peeked in to see Blaine tightening the towel around his waist.

"I brought you some clothes."

Blaine grinned and took them gratefully, glancing at the selection. "You know me too well."

Kurt shrugged, "it comes from hanging around you from childhood."

Blaine didn't answer, but allowed his smile to linger as he turned to the mirror and pulled out a small container of gel.

"Blllaaaiinee," Kurt whined.

"What?"

"Please for the love of all things holy, do not put any more of that-plaster in your hair!"

Blaine frowned, but the expression was fleeting.

"How about just a teensy bit?"

"Here, let me," Kurt said, taking the container from him. He placed the tiniest amount on his fingers, and worked the gel through Blaine's hair. It held, but it gave it a softness that had long been missed.

"There," Kurt said, stepping back. "Perfect."

"Like you," Blaine cooed.

Kurt couldn't help the adoring smile that appeared on his face, or the color that flushed his cheeks. "Like me."

* * *

An hour later, Blaine and Kurt were sitting across from each other in the fanciest restaurant either of them had ever been in. Never had either of them felt so at peace as they did on that night. Everyone and everything around them was simply perfect, and brimming with life. Even if they couldn't afford the more expensive dishes, and they had to skip out on the bottle of wine Kurt had been eyeing when the waiter stopped by to offer them, the night couldn't have possibly been any better.

When dessert came, a triple layer chocolate cake that Blaine took an instant liking too, Kurt spent a good two minutes staring at him from across the table before Blaine even noticed.

"Is there somfing on my mouf?" he asked, his tongue and teeth sticking slightly together from the fudge filling.

Kurt laughed, showing only his top row of teeth. "No, nothing. You're just really beautiful you know that?"

"Well you're not too bad yourself Mr. Replacement Model."

"That was one time," Kurt responded as if he'd heard Blaine's exact statement time and time again.

"Say what you will, but I'm dating a supermodel."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

Blaine raised an eyebrow, "about being a supermodel? Did you get a job offer that I'm not aware of?"

"No, no, not that." Kurt paused, looking down at the table. "The dating part."

"Oh god," Blaine's heart dropped, and he set down his fork. "You're not-you're not breaking up with me are you?" His voice cracked on the last word.

"No! No! Quite the opposite actually."

Blaine tilted his head in confusion, until Kurt got out of his chair and sank down on one knee in front of him, pulling out a satin box and opening it in front of him. Blaine froze.

"Blaine Devon Anderson, if there is one thing that I know was meant to happen, it is that we were destined to meet. For my entire life, you have been there in some way, shape, or form. I've needed you, and you've needed me. This day has been a long time coming. I know this is a painfully cheesy place to do it, but I figured you would appreciate the romanticism in a traditional proposal. So, with that said: Will you marry me."

Blaine sat speechless for a heartbeat before nodding a silent yes. He stood up and pulled Kurt to his feet, kissing him with more emotion than he knew he had.

It was nearly ten minutes later before either of them remembered the ring. It slipped onto Blaine's finger with ease. To him, it felt as if it had always been there.

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**A/N: Yay! They're getting married! I hope you enjoyed. Reviews are welcome, as always.**


	19. At Last

**A/N: This is the final installment of the U&B story! Again thank you so much to everyone that has been reading this! It's been so long, and this was the first fic I ever uploaded so it means a lot to me. Enjoy!**

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"Come on Kurt, you can't fall asleep yet. We haven't even gotten to the airport."

Kurt blinked his eyes open, and tried to sit up straight in the back of the Limo. "But I've been up for almost twenty-four hours, and I'm so tiiireeedd," he whined. Blaine took Kurt's hand in his own, and kissed the ring on his finger. The ring he had slipped on the previous afternoon while Burt and Cooper made cheering noises in the background. He'd almost dropped it from nervousness, but Kurt's soft smile somehow made it easier.

Kurt smiled at Blaine's gesture, and let his eyes slide closed. "Just until we get to the airport," he murmured as he leaned over and placed his head on Blaine's lap.

"Okay," he whispered. He bent over and kissed Kurt's forehead before picking up his head and running his fingers gently through Kurt's hair.

While they drove, Blaine thought back to the past few hours. It was surprising how fast their wedding reception had gone from romantic and calm to a boisterous party. All it took was one obnoxious speech from a slightly inebriated cousin, and everything became very high energy. Blaine would be lying if he said he wasn't exhausted himself. Seconds after Kurt and Blaine had their first dance everyone was pulling them in all directions asking to dance or offering advice.

He had to say though, his favorite part was when Cooper gave his speech and mentioned how years ago he'd found Kurt and Blaine dressed up in his parent's closet. Blaine in clothes five times too big, and Kurt in a dress that bunched up around his ankles. Everyone had laughed while Kurt turned a bright shade of pink, and Blaine couldn't have loved his husband more if he tried.

If he could have one wish, it was that his mom had come. It didn't matter that she violently opposed his life choice. She was still his mom, and Blaine couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness when he saw his dad sitting with an empty chair beside him. Blaine made sure to make plenty of time for his dad, reminding him how much he appreciated that he came.

The limo rolled to a stop, and Blaine glanced out the window to see the main entrance to the airport. He patted Kurt's shoulder. "We're here."

Kurt stretched out and opened his eyes, a grin spreading across his face.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head a little. "It's just that… we're married."

Blaine cupped Kurt's face and kissed him lightly. "Yes we are."

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Kurt sat up in bed. He could have sworn he heard someone pattering down the hall. Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he checked the clock. 2:30 AM.

"What on earth…" he muttered to himself. Blaine slept next to him, face buried underneath his pillow. He could see his curls poking out and a few grey hairs scattered among the dark black. Kurt couldn't help the smile that grew on his face every time he saw his husband of fourteen years.

Swinging his legs over, he got out of bed and went to find the source of the noise. He passed seven year old Kate's room. She was sprawled sideways on the bed, one arm hanging off the side and her mouth wide open. Kurt chuckled to himself and stepped into the room and gently rolled her into a less precarious position. After he was satisfied that she wasn't going to fall off the bed—again—he continued on.

Scuffling noises were still coming from what Kurt realized was the kitchen. Elizabeth. She had been waking up at night a lot recently, but never would talk to anyone about it. Turning the corner, he saw her with a bowl of cereal. She was studying the back of the box of Cheerios intently, as if she would have to later take a test.

"You okay?" He asked from the doorway. She started.

"Yeah," she sighed, looking down at her bowl. Kurt studied her features. Both Kate and Elizabeth came from surrogate mothers. Kate was pale with striking blue-green eyes like Kurt, and Elizabeth was a carbon copy of Blaine. Olive skin and ebony hair complemented her features perfectly. She was lucky she didn't inherit Blaine's triangular eyebrows. Kurt couldn't believe how big she had gotten. At twelve years old, she had begun to mature. Kurt realized that soon she would be a young lady and not just his baby anymore.

Her black curls fell over her eyes while she ate in silence.

"You know you can always talk to me about anything."

Elizabeth gave a small, half-hearted smile in response. "You're supposed to say that to me, Dad, but it's not that easy."

Kurt worried about her. He knew she was bullied in school a few times because she was small and spent more time with books than with other girls her age. It broke his heart to see her so sad.

"It's just…" Elizabeth began, "Sadie's is on Friday at school." Her voice faded out. Kurt sank into the chair next to her, patted her back, and urged her to go on.

"I, um… I wanted to ask Chris to go with me. But, I don't know if he likes me." She looked devastated.

"Honey, he is at our house all the time. I think he will say yes." Kurt replied sincerely. He didn't know how to react. He was happy that Elizabeth was taking this next step in her life, but he wanted to protect his baby girl and never let her go.

"But Megan said that she wanted to go with him and she's prettier than me. I think he is going to go with her."

Kurt pulled her into a hug. "Don't you ever think that. You are the prettiest girl in the whole wide world, never let anyone tell you any different." The two sat quietly together.

"You really think so?"

"I know so, and so does everyone else." He sat with her in a comfortable silence until he noticed her eyelids starting to droop down. "Alright now, you go to bed because you have school tomorrow and I do not want to have to carry out of the house."

"Okay," she exhaled. He walked her to her room and tucked her into bed.

"Tomorrow you ask him to the dance. Promise me?"

"I promise," she yawned.

"Good night Ellie."

"Night dad."

Kurt walked out and shut the door. Turning around he found himself face to face with Blaine. His eyes were crinkled in worry and his hair stood every which way giving him quite a disheveled appearance.

"Did you just encourage our daughter to go to a dance with a boy!?" Blaine asked. _Adorable_ Kurt thought.

"Yes I did, and I'm glad I spoke to her before you did," Kurt smiled. He knew Blaine hated the idea of his girls growing up, and made a fuss every time Elizabeth showed signs of maturation.

Blaine sighed softly, "What am I going to do when she gets married if I can't even accept the fact that she is going to a dance?"

"You," Kurt responded, "are going to be the supportive loving man you are, and eventually you will let her go."

"Fine fine." Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and rested his head in the crook of his neck. After a moment he looked up. "I love you." Kurt wrapped his arms around him and planted a small kiss onto his husband's forehead.

"I love you too." The two of them stood there for a while, deep in thought.

"Can we go back to bed now? It's too dark and quiet to be awake," Blaine piped up a couple minutes later.

The two made their way back to their room. Settling into bed, Blaine pulled Kurt closer, placing an arm around him and tangling their legs together.

"Goodnight," Kurt said softly.

"G'night," murmured Blaine, already half asleep. Not for the first time, Kurt felt a flutter in his chest. He pulled Blaine's arm tighter around him and wondered what he had done in a past life to have such a perfect family, and such a perfect husband.

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**A/N: I hope you enjoyed! I know there are a few things that weren't necessarily resolved but I couldn't really think of a way to put it all together. If you have any questions about headcanons and such, feel free to ask me on my tumblr (URL: blaineisacheerio) Reviews are welcome. **

**Again, thank you so much for reading. You don't know how much I appreciate you guys. *love and hugs***

**-CharleK**


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